Balenciaga launches €9,000 mushroom-leather coat

In Spain, luxury fashion brand Balenciaga has designed a coat made from the mushroom leather Ephea. Marking Balenciaga’s first use of the material, the black hooded coat made its runway debut in March and is now available for sale at the extravagant price of €9,000.

“Balenciaga acknowledges the role that fashion plays in depleting and reshaping our natural surroundings and believes that brands are now tasked with finding ways to keep the planet livable,” the brand says in a press statement quoted by Vogue Business. “The Balenciaga teams are, together with their value chains, continuously researching and implementing ideas in support of lessening the company’s environmental impact and influencing others to do the same.”

Ephea is produced by Sqim, which began collaborating with Balenciaga in early 2021.  “We are extremely proud of the collaborative outcome, and the outstanding result achieved, which we believe demonstrates the huge potential of our technology and products,” adds Stefano Babbini, Sqim CEO and co-founder.

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