Hermes to make vegan leather handbags from mushrooms
HermEs-French leather products company, famous for its unique Birkin and Kelly bags, which are made of luxurious materials such as ostrich skin and crocodile skin, which can be sold for more than $400,000 at auction-HermEs will release its first A handbag made of leather-like material derived from mushrooms is grown in a laboratory.
The Parisian brand has partnered with California-based startup MycoWorks, which has applied for a patent for the process of transforming mycelium (a linear network of mushroom root structures) into a leather-like material.
According to a report from the fashion trade publication "Fashion Business", the brand's Victorian travel bag will be made of canvas, calfskin and mushroom-derived amber material "Sylvania". The package will be available at the end of this year.
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Pierre-Alexis Dumas, the artistic director of HermEs, said in a statement to Fashion Business: "MycoWorks' vision and values echo the HermEs perspective: a strong fascination with natural raw materials and their transformation. It is the pursuit of excellence, the purpose is to ensure the full use of various items and maximize their service life. With Sylvania, HermEs has always been at its core: innovation in manufacturing."
HermEs is rooted in tradition and still produces leather goods in tanneries across France. It was the first luxury brand to cooperate with Apple in 2015 when it designed leather straps for Apple Watch.
So far, the brand's resistance to the coronavirus pandemic is better than its competitors. Due to strong performance in Asia and soaring online revenue, the brand's sales have recovered in the second half of 2020.
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According to Reuters, at a constant exchange rate, sales from October to December increased by 16%, better than UBS (UBS) citing analyst consensus estimates of an 8% increase.