The Fungus Takes Over the Design Process

Fashion designer Lara Geyer experiments with fungi as co-designers. Her project FUNGIfiction shows what sustainable design could look like – beyond the throwaway mentality.

In her workspace at the Berlin University of the Arts, Lara Geyer doesn’t cultivate ordinary fabrics. The 25-year-old fashion design graduate works with living mycelium – the root network of fungi – and literally grows clothing. Mycelium as a leather alternative isn’t new: Stella McCartney already presented first pieces made from mycelium leather in 2018, and today you can even buy shoes made from it. But at this year’s UDK graduation show, Geyer’s approach was particularly striking. While others use mycelium as a finished material, she makes the growth process itself part of the design. Her bachelor’s project “FUNGIfiction” is more than an experimental approach: it’s an invitation to rethink the relationship between humans and materials. Between desired growth and unwanted mold, a sensitive dialogue developed – a constant balancing act between control and surrender. What emerged surprises even the designer herself. Her work poses fundamental questions: What happens when designers give up control? Can a fungus revolutionize the fashion industry? And what does a future look like where we not only produce more sustainably, but reinvent the very act of creation?

SLEEK Lara, you work with mycelium – the root network of fungi. What makes this material so special?

Lara Geyer Mycelium is the main component of fungi; what we call a “mushroom” is actually just the fruiting body. For fashion, mycelium is extremely exciting because it’s so versatile: it can be soft and flexible like leather, but also rigid like styrofoam. You can grow it into virtually any desired shape. This creates enormous scope for creative experiments.

S You describe the fungus as a “co-designer.” How does this collaboration work?

LG I give the fungus direction and create the conditions for it, but hope it engages with that. What emerges always surprises me. Often I found beautifully grown mold instead of beautifully grown mycelium. Over time, I better understood what the fungus needs – it was a mutual getting-to-know-each-other process.

S Your project is titled “FUNGIfiction – restart our system.” What’s behind that?

LG The title is both wish and demand: our system urgently needs a restart. The dark sides of the fashion industry are too drastic – for the environment, for people, for the bigger picture. FUNGIfiction stands for a future where we fundamentally rethink our relationship with materials.

S How does the design process change when you consciously give up control?

LG It changes fundamentally. I often felt like I was designing the environment more – the fungus takes over the actual design process. It was like a creative ping-pong game: I could give small hints, but the final result wasn’t solely in my hands.

S What were your concrete results?

LG I developed three approaches: “Grow into Shape” – mycelium grows directly into 3D molds of a suit. “Myco Patterns” – all pattern pieces grow individually without waste. And “Fusion” – a speculative paste where mycelium grows together with fabric to form natural reinforcements.

S Do such experimental approaches have a chance in the mainstream?

LG Everything we consider mainstream was experimental at some point. Stella McCartney already designed her first mycelium leather piece in 2018; now you can buy shoes made from mycelium leather. It will take time, but I look forward to that moment – it means we’re on the right path.

S How do you see fashion’s future in 2040?

LG Fashion should be free, wild, and strong. I wish for a future where we rethink materials and use resources consciously – combined with fun, because that’s exactly what fashion should provide. Fast fashion won’t disappear overnight, but every person who takes different paths brings us closer to change.