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Lululemon just released a gym bag made from mushrooms—here's the scoop

lululemon is constructing some of its bags with a new, buzzy alternative to leather.

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From being featured heavily in cottagecore furniture to making a guest appearance in our Airpods 3 review, mushrooms are having a moment. Mushrooms are uniquely utilitarian in the ecological world. Not only have certain mushrooms and their plastic-consuming capabilities been discussed as a mitigation for the global plastic problem, but psychedelic mushrooms have also been increasingly utilized as regulated treatments for depression, anxiety, and even addiction. In short—mushrooms are really, really neat.

As part of the fairly recent effort to incorporate more plant-based fabrics and sustainable materials in everyday products, many clothing brands are started to look toward mushroom-based materials. Lululemon recently released a bag that incorporates Mylo, a mushroom-based vegan leather. Intrigued, we did a deep dive on Mylo and the construction of the bag to determine whether or not it can be considered sustainable, and to figure out what a mushroom-based leather actually is.

What is Mylo?

An image of a beaker and petri dish filled with fibrous white material next to an image of the Mylo leather-like accents on the lululemon bag, laid out and viewed from an overhead angle.
Credit: Mylo

The mycelium collected during Mylo's creation is pressed and tanned like real leather to create the final product.

Mylo is, simply put, a vegan leather made with mushrooms—specifically, mycelial cells. Mycelium refers to the network of connected tissue that makes up the root system for mushrooms, threading together fungal systems beneath the ground. Mylo is made specifically by growing mycelium cells on beds of sawdust and other organic material, which are then formed into a processed, tanned, dyed product that mirrors the texture and quality of real leather. Because Mylo is made with mushrooms, which are fungi, the term "plant-based" can't technically be used, but it is vegan by the standards set by the Eurofins Chem-MAP assessment program.

Mylo is trademarked and manufactured by Bolt Threads, a biomaterials company that creates and manufactures the product for use by clothing brands like lululemon, Stella McCartney, Adidas, and more.

Mylo is difficult to assess as a sustainable material, simply because it hasn't been in production that long. Providing an alternative leather seems to be the product's goal, but for the moment its environmental impact is nebulous at best, especially given its incorporation of plastic and the lack of studies on its carbon footprint. Bolt Threads has indicated that it will release an update on Mylo's sustainability and impact later on in 2022. The process of creating the mycelial materials for Mylo takes a few days; by comparison, the time required to produce leather from start to finish is quite a bit longer, as it takes three years on average to raise cattle for the meat and dairy industries.

Where can you find Mylo at lululemon?

An image of the lululemon Barrel Duffel Bag slung over the shoulder of a model wearing a bright pink cropped shirt and black leggings.
Credit: lululemon

You can find Mylo on the Barrel bag's handles, straps, zipper pulls and more.

Mylo is part of the construction of two products in lululemon's roster—the Barrel Duffel Bag and the 2-in-1 Yoga Mat and Meditation Mat Bag. The Barrel bag is not entirely made with Mylo, nor is the yoga bag. Both bags incorporate leather-like accents on the handles, straps, interior, and zipper pulls—the rest of the bag is made with cloth. The Barrel bag comes with a removable pouch and is designed for travel; the Yoga Mat Bag is likewise designed for on-the-go use, and the meditation mat it folds out into is 31.9 inches in diameter. The Mylo accents are either stitched together or woven into textured elements on the handles of both bags.

The Barrel Duffel and Yoga Mat Bag are both rather pricey, even compared to lululemon's other bags and belt bags—at $168 the Curved Lines bag, which came in third in our roundup of the best gym bags, is a little more than half the cost of the Barrel Duffel, which retails for $328. The Yoga Mat Bag costs less at $238, but is still at a much higher price point than the lululemon Adjustable Yoga Mat bag, which is just $58. The price may account for the cost of the Mylo material, which is primarily utilized for luxury brands at the moment.

If you're in the market for a luxury item that incorporates vegan elements, the Barrel Bag or Yoga Mat bag might be a good fit—if you want to explore other products that utilize Mylo, you can check out the full product list on the Mylo Unleather website.

Shop the lululemon Barrel Duffel Bag

Shop the lululemon 2-in-1 Yoga Mat Bag and Meditation Mat

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