Balenciaga unveils coat made with Ephea, a leather alternative

In March, Balenciaga sent a black, hooded wrap coat down the runway during its Autumn/Winter 2022 show, set against a swirling, snowy backdrop. Made from bio-based material Ephea and on sale starting today, the coat marks the luxury brand’s first release using a leather alternative made from mycelium, and is the first commercially available garment to be made using Ephea.

The coat, designed by creative director Demna, is now available only in select Balenciaga stores in Beijing, Beverly Hills, London, Milan, New York City, Paris, Shanghai, Tokyo and Toronto. Balenciaga said it is evaluating other opportunities to use Ephea in different product categories. Ephea was created by material innovations company Sqim, which began working with Balenciaga in early 2021.

“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 said in a statement. “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.”

It joins a growing list of leather alternatives made from mycelium, the root structure of mushrooms, coming to the market that are a result of partnerships between luxury brands and material innovation companies. Hermès is working with Mycoworks, Ralph Lauren with Natural Fiber Welding, Reformation with Ecovative and Stella McCartney, Ganni and others including Balenciaga’s own parent company Kering have partnered with Bolt Threads on its mycelium-based product Mylo.

Kering-owned Gucci has also developed a leather alternative called Demetra in-house. Some are commercially available, such as a Ganni wallet and Stella McCartney’s Frayme bag made with Mylo, a pair of Allbirds sneakers made with Natural Fiber Welding’s material and some Demetra options from Gucci — but the selection is limited, and most partnerships are still in an exploratory or development stage and haven’t resulted in products yet that consumers can actually buy.

While interest in leather alternatives is strong and growing — particularly for those that are mycelium-based because, proponents say, they can offer a leather-like quality but have an exponentially lower carbon footprint than animal hides — a number of companies still rely on synthetic chemicals to produce their materials. Balenciaga says Ephea not only “feels and visibly resembles a hide-based material”, but is also nontoxic and an “organic, viable, and otherwise environmentally sound alternative to leathers and synthetics”.

“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.

Balenciaga releases coat made with Ephea, a leather alternative