Ephea
id card
Mycelium from fungi + processed biodegradable agro-residue
composition
Chitin
building blocks
Organic
material origin
Sheet
shape
6 – demonstrated in relevant environment
TRL
Ephea is a mycelium-based material, asking for a new set of standards on the market - not as a leather replacement, but rather as a novel class of flexible, organic materials.
That being said, the introduction of Ephea is actively reducing the use of synthetic fibres, CO2 emissions, as well as utilizing low-value agroindustrial residues - all thanks to its biofabrication processes and organically sourced ingredients.
Properties
It is non-surprisingly very soft and velvety to the touch - just one of its many mushroomy quirks - with a satisfying density to it.
Colour, shine, grain, softness, thickness and technical properties can be tuned according to the needs of the application targeted.
Cyclability
We know with certainty Ephea is biodegradable. It isn't made of plastic, and therefore it doesn't release microplastics to the environment - the science behind it says it's all natural, both ingredient- and production process wise.
APPLICATIONS
Fashion (ex. coats - Balenciaga Fall 2022 Ready-to-Wear), the automotive industry - which implies furniture as well, and so on and on.
FOOTWEAR APPLICATIONS
Upper
Production process
It all started with one person's fascination with nature's toughest, but for some reason highly underrated soldiers - mushrooms.
Mycelium based sheets are grown by feeding and aiding mycelium with low-value organic feedstock (agro-waste), which, guided through custom fermentation processes adapts a shape of any requested kind. Furthermore, their high reactivity to reagents (i.e., green-chemistry tanning), allows for effective transformation into fully stable and luxurious finished products.
It’s consistently reproducible and requires minimal land, water and energy use in order to be produced- let's go, pollution awareness!
Manufacturing facts
Taking into consideration naturally grown mushroom mycelium takes anywhere from 2 to 8 weeks to reach full growth - and the brand's recent rise to popularity with the Balenciaga Fall 2022 runway show inclusion - we can assume they are working laborously to deliver their goods as soon as all the fermentation stages allow it!
production time
There is not much known about the production facilities.
Sqim-team, let us know!
the factory
Behind the screen
Stefano Babbini & Maurizio Montalti
founders
2022
Inarzo, Italy
time & place
Balenciaga
partnerships
