Bio Design for Footwear Innovation: Growing Sneaker Components with Composite Mycelium-based Materials

Footwear design has traditionally followed a linear and profit-driven approach, leading to present ecological and social issues. Contemporarily, bio design experimentations have shown several opportunities in growing materials. We explore the use of mycelium composite cultures in the production of sneakers components, aiming to combat climate change, foster multidisciplinary collaborations, and promote sustainable material values. In this study, we implemented microbiological procedures to cultivate Plerotus Ostreatus mycelium as footwear components within scaled-down 3D printed moulds holding hemp fibres, natural tanned goat leather, and 3D printed TPU as substrate materials. To assess material flexibility, we experimented with various glycerol solutions. Mycelium demonstrated its ability to grow on diverse substrates, particularly hemp fibres, colonizing both its surface and bottom. However, challenges arose with leather and TPU, as the hyphae struggled to digest and entangle heavy, large pieces of animal or synthetic-based substrates, rendering the materials fragile and unstable. Additionally, glycerol did not effectively enhance the flexibility of the composite materials. Our findings suggest that fungi hold promise for growing circular footwear components directly in required shapes, utilizing digitally manufactured moulds. To enhance mycelium structure stability and mechanical properties, further exploration of different fungi species alongside smaller scale ground substrate materials is recommended.