Deep Science x High Design: Bolt Threads Joins Forces With Iconic Fashion Brands

Global fashion companies invest in material innovation and creative solutions designed to build a more sustainable future.

This week a highly unique and creative collaborative partnership was been announced. Headed by a biotechnology company, Bolt Threads, the collaboration, is made up of partners who recognize fashion’s race to develop sustainable solutions. The first-of-its-kind, the creative, collaborative partnership, made up of adidas, Kering, lululemon and Stella McCartney  promises to usher in a more sustainable future for the fashion industry. Bolt Threads is not only creating next-generation advanced materials; they are offering their partners exclusive access to Bolt Thread’s innovative material, Mylo™. 

 A Sustainable Future is Something No Brand Can Create Alone

Marking a significant milestone in the industry by addressing the sustainability challenge, the consortium is the largest joint development agreement in consumer biomaterials to date. Marrying deep science and high design, Bolt Threads CEO Dan Widmaier has found a way to unite iconic and forward-thinking companies to collectively represent hundreds of millions of square feet of potential demand for Mylo. He said: “Most importantly, this is an ongoing commitment to developing materials and products for a more sustainable future.”

 “Most importantly, this is an ongoing commitment to developing materials and products for a more sustainable future.”

On bringing products featuring Mylo to market in 2021, Stella McCartney, Founder and Creative Director commented: “Many people associate leather with Luxury, but since the beginning, I always wanted to approach things differently because killing animals for the sake of fashion is quite simply not acceptable. Working so closely with Bolt Threads since 2017 has been a career-changing experience and I cannot wait to launch Mylo products 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 

“Mylo is one of the very promising solutions that we have identified,” said François-Henri Pinault, Chairman & CEO, Kering. Made from infinitely renewable mycelium, FashNerd.com wrote about Bolt Thread’s Mylo™ Driver, the first commercially available tote made of mycelium in 2019. Constructed entirely from Bolt Threads’ Mylo™ material, the bag was created with leather grown from mycelium. For those who are not familiar with mycelium, it is a root structure of mushroom that grows underground in the soil. It forms vast networks of threads that help recycle organic matter on the forest floor while providing nutrients to plants and trees. Mylo looks and feels like leather; the threads interweave and self-assemble into a 3D matrix that can spread for miles.

Bolt Thread’s Mylo™ Driver bag

Inspired by nature as inspiration, Mylo is everything you love about leather without everything you don’t. Developed for the apparel industry, Mylo takes less than two weeks to grow, emitting fewer greenhouse gases and using less water and resources than animal leather. It is an alternative material that could potentially drastically reduce the environmental impact the fashion industry has been making. Mylo can be used like animal or synthetic leather and can take on any colour, finish or emboss. The first Mylo products will be available for purchase in stores and online starting in 2021.

” I cannot wait to launch Mylo products to market in 2021.” 

-Lululmeon

“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.

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Founding editor-in-chief of FashNerd.com, Muchaneta is currently one of the leading influencers writing about the merger of fashion with technology and wearable technology. She has also given talks at Premiere Vision, Munich Fabric Start and Pure London, to name a few. Besides working as a fashion innovation consultant for various fashion companies like LVMH Atelier, Muchaneta has also contributed to Vogue Business, is a senior contributor at The Interline and an associate lecturer at London College of Fashion, UAL.