Mushroom leather did not graduate into the Hermes supply chain. The Victoria bag Hermes announced in March 2021, for stores by year's end, has no documented retail release, and MycoWorks stopped growing the material last October.
- No announcement by either company records Hermes taking a stake in MycoWorks; about $187 million came from other investors.
- MycoWorks' then chief executive, in a letter reported by Sourcing Journal, conceded mycelium has lower tear and tensile strength than cow hide, then said his new tanning raised only tensile strength, 4 to 5 times.
- The claimed obstacle, a 15 to 25 percent green premium, cannot be sourced, and a rival material priced near parity with calf was paused anyway. What kills these materials is the factory and the volume, not the price tag.
Hermes, meanwhile, opened its twenty-fifth French leather goods workshop in April.
