A highly distinctive and innovative strategic collaboration has been revealed this week.
The partnership, headed by a biotechnology group, Bolt Threads, is made up of investors who understand the race for creative solutions in fashion. The first-of-its-kind, innovative, joint collaboration, comprising of adidas, Kering, lululemon, and Stella McCartney, aims to expand the fashion world to a more prosperous future.
A Sustainable Future is Something No Brand Can Create Alone
Not only are Bolt Threads producing advanced technologies of the next generation; they
give exclusive access to the revolutionary content of Bolt Thread, MyloTM, to their partners.
The consortium is the first collaborative production partnership on consumer biomaterials to date, marking a major landmark in the industry and tackling the issue of sustainability.
Dan Widmaier, CEO of Bolt Threads, has found a way to combine famous and forward-thinking businesses to jointly serve hundreds of millions of square feet of future demand for Mylo, combining deep science and high architecture. “Above all, there is an continuing commitment to create materials and goods for a more sustainable world,” he added.
“Stella McCartney, Designer and Artistic Director, reflected on taking items incorporating Mylo to the market in 2021:” Most people equate leather with luxury, but I have tried to do it differently from the outset, because it is just not appropriate to sacrifice animals for the sake of fashion. It has been a career-changing opportunity to work so closely with Bolt Threads since 2017 and I can’t wait to introduce Mylo goods to market in 2021.
Believing that innovation and sustainability are vital to the future of retail, Sun Choe, Chief Product Officer, lululemon added: “At lululemon, we are committed to making products and operating our business in an innovative, sustainable way for our guests. The Mylo consortium demonstrates how leading global brands can collaborate across industries to be part of a lasting solution to restore a healthy environment.”
Mylo: High-Tech Science + Low Environmental Impact
François-Henri Pinault, Chairman & CEO, Kering, said,” Mylo is one of the most interesting options that we have found. FashNerd.com wrote about Bolt Thread’s MyloTM Driver, the first tote made of mycelium commercially available in 2019, made from indefinitely reusable mycelium. Constructed entirely from the MyloTM content of Bolt Links, the bag was made with mycelium-grown leather.”
For those that are not familiar with mycelium, it is a mushroom root structure that grows in the soil underground. It forms large thread networks that tend to recycle organic matter on
the floor of the forest while supplying plants and trees with nutrients. The fibres interweave and self-assemble into a 3D matrix that can stretch for miles, and Mylo looks and sounds like leather.
“For too long, the industry-standard has categorized materials as either natural or highly functional – but not both. The way to remedy this is to innovate responsibly with solutions that challenge the status quo, and products that use the best of what nature has spent millions of years perfecting – like Mylo – are critical to that,” explained James Carnes, VP Global Brand Strategy at adidas. Carnes hopes that their decision to work with Bolt Threads will inspire others to join forces.
SOURCE: FashNerd
