inside mycoworks’ mycelium for cadillac SOLLEI car, the bio-material that can replace leather

Mycoworks’ mycelium bio-based material for cadillac

Biotechnology company MycoWorks has developed some parts of the recent Cadillac SOLLEI concept car’s interior. It’s made of mycelium, a mushroom, bio-based material. Its texture looks silky with a touch of grains, and the textile suits its new home: the charging mats on the console and the door map pockets of the electric convertible. The material is the brainchild of MycoWorks’ Fine Mycelium, the technology responsible for growing this type of fungi from the root structures of mushrooms. In an interview with designboom, MycoWorks’ Vice President of Product, Bill Morris, and Creative Director, Xevi Gallego have sat down with us for a conversation about the new bio-based material they curated and created for Cadillac’s SOLLEI concept car.

They are joined by Laetitia Lopez, the Global Cadillac’s colors, materials and finishes design manager, who looks into the present and future of mycelium in the world of General Motors. During our conversation, MycoWorks implies their hope to transition from leather to mycelium . They may share the same feel and durability, but unlike leather, the bio-based material comes from the roots of mushrooms. It’s also grown. MycoWorks cultivates it in their laboratory in San Francisco using their in-house Fine Mycelium technology. That’s how this pursuit to swap leather with mycelium bio-based material can begin. First, growing sheets of it. Then, through Cadillac’s SOLLEI car. Soon, across fashion, footwear, furniture, and other automotive applications, until the bio-material spreads everywhere.

all images courtesy of MycoWorks Creative Studio | concept vehicle shown and not available for sale

Replacing leather with textile made from mycelium

Before using the mycelium bio-based material in the interior of the SOLLEI car, Cadillac first announced its collaboration with MycoWorks in June 2024. It’s when the duo designed a card holder accessory from the mycelium material to hint at the release of the electric convertible that would come out some weeks later. The look of leather shines through, and owners may not know it’s forged from the roots of mushrooms unless MycoWorks and the car manufacturer inform them. This is the tangible start of the teaming up between the biotechnology company and General Motors, which kicked off in August 2022.

MycoWorks describes mushrooms’ root structure as ‘infinitely renewable.’ There’s an abundance of it, and they can grow it to use as bio-based alternatives to leather- and plastic-based products. The first result they launched was Reishi in 2020. It stems from mycelium cells that grew and created 3D structures that are densely entwined and inherently strong. This is MycoWorks’ patented process to grow mycelium bio-based material, which can be customized to desired specifications including thickness, strength, texture, and drape, among other features.

MycoWorks has developed parts of the recent Cadillac SOLLEI concept car’s interior with mycelium

Raw feel to the finishing of the bio-based material

Reishi lays the foundation for the next mycelium bio-based material by MycoWorks, which is the one used for the Cadillac SOLLEI concept car. Reishi is tanned and finished by the company’s heritage tannery partners in Europe using their own proprietary chrome-free tanning and dyeing technologies. It comes out as a textile similar to leather. With the recent mycelium bio-based material, there’s a feel of rawness to the finishing. Its surface resembles mushroom roots trapped within a fabric, which can trace back to the origins of the clothing. It complements the wooden design elements of SOLLEI’s interior, and, more so, comes up as a surprise when the passengers pop the charging mats console open.

It almost has the same Manila Cream shade as the electric convertible, portraying the design flexibility of the material. MycoWorks may add this component to their growing list of flagship materials, with Reishi leading the ensemble. In October 2023, they opened their first commercial-scale Fine Mycelium production facility in South Carolina, which produces and scales additional materials made from Fine Mycelium. The automotive interior isn’t the only target industry for the mycelium bio-based material. It’s set to expand so much that it may control the supply chain of natural materials. That’s the idea for MycoWorks, and in our interview below with Bill Morris, Xevi Gallego, and even Cadillac’s Laetitia Lopez, the future of mycelium may be looking up.

the textile shows up in the charging mats on the console and the door map pockets

Interview with Bill Morris, Xevi Gallego, and Laetitia Lopez

designboom (DB): Bill, Xevi, and Laetitia, it’s wonderful to have you here. Before we talk about the concept car, can we dive first into this mycelium bio-based material? Bill, does it have the same cultivation techniques as MycoWorks’ pioneer material, Reishi?

Bill Morris (BM): MycoWorks’ unique technology, Fine Mycelium™, engineers mycelium–the root structure of mushrooms–to grow tightly interwoven and intertwined, opening the possibility to grow many kinds of materials from mycelium. Cultivated in individual trays, each sheet can be grown to unique specifications, and finished to meet the needs and standards of the particular uses and industries they’ll be applied in.

For the first time, brands and designers have full control over a natural material, adding new benefits like supply-chain traceability and material consistency. The material in the Cadillac SOLLEI concept vehicle is an example of how our partners are helping MycoWorks advance what Fine Mycelium™ can do, learnings we are then applying to other iterations of our material.

detailed view of MycoWorks’ mycelium bio-based material for Cadillac’s SOLLEI concept car

DB: How would you describe the texture, strength, and malleability of this mycelium bio-based material? Why can it be suitable for the interior design of Cadillac’s SOLLEI concept car?

BM: Mycelium is a structural marvel: malleable and adaptable, mycelium is a raw material that is uniquely versatile in the field of material science. With Fine Mycelium™, our teams can engineer and optimize mycelium’s unique structure through controllable levers –humidity, for example– to engineer specific traits as it grows, like weight, thickness, and drape.

MycoWorks and GM’s designers collaborated on a custom, luxurious finish to perfectly fit the aesthetic vision for the Cadillac SOLLEI electric vehicle. Together, we developed the iridescent material so that it seamlessly blended with the beauty and eco-conscious design, and narrative of the overall car.

Xavier Gallego (XG): Fine Mycelium™ can open endless possibilities. Imagine one day being able to grow material to the exact size of a steering wheel or dashboard, reducing offcuts and speeding up supply chains. For MycoWorks, the Cadillac SOLLEI is the first fruition of an incredible collaboration exploring the possibilities of Fine Mycelium in automotive design.

the finish has the same look and texture of leather

DB: And Laetitia, what are the qualities of MycoWorks’ mycelium bio-based material that made Cadillac choose it for the SOLLEI concept car? Was the design team looking for specific material properties that only this component was able to meet?

Laetitia Lopez (LL): Cadillac is exploring innovative, bio-based materials with lower environmental impact as alternatives to more traditional materials. The challenge was to find those attributes without compromising the craftsmanship and prestige of the SOLLEI concept. The collaboration with MycoWorks during the showcar development phase enabled the Cadillac CMF Designers to explore the possibilities of this high bio-based content material.

DB: Bill, Cadillac applied the mycelium bio-based material to the charging mats on the console and the door map pockets of the Cadillac SOLLEI car. We’re wondering if it’s possible to use the mycelium-based component for the entire interior?

BM: The Fine Mycelium™ platform can create custom materials for industry specific needs, and we’re honored to explore automotive first, with Cadillac. In the SOLLEI concept, we’re introducing and developing a new, natural bio-based material. It is a journey we first launched with GM Ventures two years ago, and our teams continue to work with GM on the vision to bring Fine Mycelium in applications across car interiors. With this unveiling, it’s no longer too futuristic to think Fine Mycelium™ could be offered in a customized luxury vehicle. And, it’s MycoWorks goal to develop Fine Mycelium so that it can be used across automotive interior design.

design and research process of using MycoWorks’ mycelium bio-based material for Cadillac’s SOLLEI

DB: Laetitia, if we can add, why was the mycelium bio-material applied to the charging mats on the console and the door map pockets? Did the design team consider other interior parts for its use? Also, were there design challenges in terms of producing the interior parts made of mycelium?

LL: The material is in the concept phase. As we tested possible concept applications with our design fabrication shop, we learned about Fine Mycelium™ capabilities relative to automotive applications. Through that process and through collaboration with MycoWorks, we made improvements to it. We selected the SOLLEI placements because these areas were most compatible with the material properties and capabilities. For the final appearance, we collaborated with MycoWorks on a custom iridescent color finish, echoing the sunburst prism effect and the story around SOLLEI.

DB: Circling back on applying this new material all over an interior. Is this kind of application something MycoWorks would like to try or work on in future projects, Xevi?

XG: The Cadillac SOLLEI concept vehicle is just one example of the limitless possibilities of Fine Mycelium™ in design, which has been a focus for MycoWorks this year. In the next few months, we’ll be unveiling a few projects showcasing Fine Mycelium™ materials applied to architecture, lighting, decor, and object design. For automotive to be our first design-sector reveal is an incredible way to show what our technology and materials are capable of.

DB: Xevi and Bill, did MycoWorks face any design challenges when producing the mycelium bio-based material? How would they affect the long-term production?

XG: Collaboration with design teams is key to developing high-quality, beautiful materials. New materials and biomaterials are often boxed into a material category that already exists–for us, this is leather. But, Fine Mycelium™ materials are a new category of their own, with unique properties like customizability.

Designers who create products around Fine Mycelium’s properties instead of leather’s unlock the creativity of our material much quicker. The tension between luxury and sustainability right now is creativity and imagination. Designers are the solution, creating the bridge between material science and art by trialing and designing new possibilities with biomaterials.

BM: The design team at Cadillac is all experts at designing with intent. With all biomaterials, including Fine Mycelium™ this requires a certain amount of design around the material you have, instead of privileging the design of the product you have in mind. It has been an incredibly important collaboration for MycoWorks to work with Cadillac’s design team, revisioning our material design and reviewing colors and finishes with a team that can show us how versatile Fine Mycelium™ can be in the automotive space.

MycoWorks hopes to replace leather with mycelium (or at least make it a go-to option for the hide-based textile)

DB: What other alternatives or biomaterials are you looking forward to experimenting with at MycoWorks? Would you still be using your Fine Mycelium technology, or are you planning to look into other mediums?

BM: Fine Mycelium™ is a platform that can grow many amazing materials. Our technology has many levers it can pull to design new materials that can complement existing ones that are in short supply, or create new options for materials that no longer serve us because of their durability, sustainability, or circularity profile.

Fine Mycelium™ is a chance to redesign our relationship to fabrication and manufacturing, and at MycoWorks we’re looking to unveil these new and innovative materials as we grow them. With Fine Mycelium, MycoWorks has unlocked the ability to grow sheets customized for use in most soft surfaces where performance is key. Automotive interiors is the first application, but soon it could be applied to performance footwear, air, cruise and train interiors, or spacesuits.

the duo designed a card holder accessory from the mycelium material to hint at the release of the car

XG (continued): It’s in our heritage to design new materials. With Fine Mycelium, we are achieving a high-level of control over how mycelium grows. MycoWorks has started with the most difficult applications: soft materials. But our technology has many levels of innovation and we’re looking at how this platform can serve industries from construction, to interior design, to packaging, to cosmetics, to marine applications and potentially even the food industry.

DB: How about Cadillac and General Motors, Laetitia, do you see the future of mycelium and other alternative materials for other vehicles and design projects?

LL: The Cadillac CMF team is focusing on finding solutions to meet our customer expectations. We look forward to continued exploration and development of materials with low environmental impact coupled with exceptional appeal and performance aligned with our Cadillac Brand DNA.