“A new era”: Stella McCartney debuts luxury handbag made with fungi-based leather
Described as the “future” of high-performance textiles, the durable mushroom leather is a more sustainable alternative to traditional animal and plastic derived leather.
The Stella Ryder bag, made with fungi-based leather in a metallic silver color. Credit: Stella McCartney
Fashion designer Stella McCartney has unveiled a cutting-edge new luxury handbag that is made with fungi-based leather.
Mccartney has long been at the forefront of sustainable fashion, and over the decades has championed many compassionate trends including helping the wider industry to move away from using animal furs and leather.
Now, the designer is describing her latest collaboration as “pioneering the next generation of sustainable luxury”, thanks to an innovative new vegan material that is made using mycelium and sugar cane waste.
Dubbed the Stella Ryder, the bag first debuted in Mccartney’s Spring/Summer 2025 runway and features a new fungi-based leather from materials company Hydefy. The high-end, crossbody bag is available in a metallic silver, and has now launched online at stellamccartney.com.
While retaining its fashion credentials, the bag also boasts an impressive environmental footprint thanks to fungi-based leather, which is able to be produced with less resource consumption, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and pollution when compared to existing leather products and leather alternatives.
Credit: Stella McCartney
To craft its sustainability-led products, Hydfey uses Fy, which is made from fungi that were first discovered as part of NASA-backed research in Yellowstone National Park.
Hydefy’s proprietary fermentation process then sees Fy combined with sugar cane waste to create an entirely vegan and cruelty-free biomaterial. Fermentation is a natural process often used in the food industry to create a variety of products including cheese, wine, and beer.
As part of the process, the Fy used to create Hydefy can grow in less than 3 days.
By creating a durable and versatile material that’s sustainable, Hydefy describes its fungi-based leather as the “future of high-performance textiles.”
“We’re proving that innovative materials can meet the highest standards of durability, quality, and aesthetics—offering designers new creative possibilities with a lower impact,” explains Thomas Jonas, CEO of The Fynder Group, the company behind Hydefy. “This is a game-changer for industries that have long relied on source-intensive, outdated materials.”
Hydefy says its fungi-based materials are not only a new option for designers in the fashion industry, but also for those working in the automotive and interior industries too.
Each year, over a billion animals are killed by the global leather industry. Cows used for leather may be skinned and dismembered while still conscious, following painful procedures like castration, branding, and tail docking—often performed without any pain relief. Beyond the immense cruelty inflicted on animals, the leather industry also plays a significant role in climate change, land degradation, deforestation, pollution, water contamination, and the loss of biodiversity.
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