FUNGI IS OUR MUSE
Introduction to the world of Fungi
At Simply Suzette we are noticing that the more time passes, the more we are getting obsessed with fungi. Did you know that fungi are one of the five kingdoms of life on earth, but nobody really knows how many species of fungi there are in the world? Scientists have formally identified 155,000 species, but there are millions yet to be discovered!
Fungi are so important that Chile requires them to be included in environmental impact assessments, making it the first country to make this a requirement by law.
Often overlooked (literally) and underappreciated, these diverse organisms can play a crucial role in mitigating climate change, feeding people, restoring degraded land, cleaning up environmental pollution, and supporting resilient economies.
We have found a recent study by the University of Toronto which explains that plant roots engage with fungi in a silent molecular “language” to direct their structure in the soil. When plants release hormones, they signal fungi to attach to their roots, providing phosphates — the fuel plants need to grow — in exchange for carbon.
The findings are incredible - 80% of plants rely on this symbiotic relationship, and enhancing this interaction with beneficial fungi could yield hardier crops, reduce fertiliser use, and minimise phosphate runoff into waterways.
As we begin to understand how plants and fungi communicate, we will better understand the complexities of the soil ecosystem, leading to healthier crops and improving our approach to biodiversity. Could these learnings also help us understand how to improve our attitude towards society’s challenges?
Our favourite sources for this article
In our journey to better understand fungi, we’ve become heavily inspired by the book Let’s Become Fungal by Yasmine Ostendorf-Rodrìguez. The book explores the intersection of art and mycology, delving into the connected network of fungi and mycelium and how they can be used as a metaphor for our potential new systems, ways of thinking and behaviours. Examples are pulled from innovative art practices in Latin America and the Caribbean that are rooted in collaboration, decentralisation and other behaviours of mycelium.
Each chapter is phrased as a different question and includes wisdom from Indigenous keepers, artists, curators, feminists, and mycologists. These insights helped us connect the dots between fungi and fashion systems.
Another book to note is Mushroom at the End of the World, referenced heavily in Let’s Become Fungal. It has a cool title and even cooler conversations about the commodity chain of the Matsutake mushroom!
HOW WE CAN TAKE INSPIRATION FROM FUNGI TO FACILITATE CHANGE
Network structure for collaboration
The world of fungi is a beautiful example of equal collaboration between species. Fungi create a network between themselves and trees, and between trees, passing nutrients and information from young to elder trees to create a collective web and forest community.
We can learn a lot from how fungi organise socially. They’re non-hierarchal, practising interdependence through collective knowledge, making sure other species survive so the forest network is sustainable. Rather than compete for resources, fungi’s ecological processes work in the background to help support the entire ecosystem.
“In mycology (the study of mycelium & fungi), small-scale systems, networks, communities, and relationships are already in place. The connecting of these systems, disciplines, and groups needs to be facilities for everyone’s full potential to be reached (P.g 94, Let’s Become Fungal)”.
In many ways, mushrooms are an analogy for the interwoven global supply chain networks that capitalism relies on. This leaves us with the question: what would the fashion supply chain look like if we modelled our supply chains after the healthy collaboration model of fungi and nature?
We explored this in a recent research model we did with Cotton Diaries for Bluezone Munich. After meeting cotton farmers, our view of the denim supply chain shifted. Traditionally, we view the supply chain from a linear and top-down approach, moving from raw materials to garments and brands. After meeting with all chain stakeholders, we gained a deeper understanding of their roles from the mills to traders and farmers. While simple, this linear model overlooks the complexities and interactions within each supply chain link crucial to the final garment. Instead, understanding the importance of each part of the network changed our perspective of the supply chain from linear to web-like or branching tree!
In this diagram, imagine the supply chain is a fungal network in a forest. At the roots are the farmers, who support the entire chain and determine the sustainability of the fibre. Centering the farmers adds value to their role, which helps prioritize them in decision making. As fungi play a valuable role in supporting the forest, so do farmers with the supply chain.
This also applies to supply chain traceability. Fungi carry information across species, and by shifting our view of the supply chain from linear to a collective network, information is less likely to become fragmented and value placed on the right stakeholders.
Organising structures to facilitate change
The largest organism on earth is a fungus (Armillaria ostoyae). Massive sizes are also attributed to mycelium, threads that connect the fungal system to create mycorrhizal networks that transfer key nutrients between individuals and groups of plants. The length of fungal mycelium globally is 450 thousand quadrillion kilometres—half the width of our galaxy. Their presence, however, benefits other inhabitants of their ecosystems in harmony rather than taking over - which is something that humans have been unable to do.
Many fungi are crucial in the process of death, important decomposers in ecosystems that help to break down plant or animal debris, cycling nutrients back into the environment.
Fungi can teach us that society is constantly evolving, and we can’t stop things from changing, but adapt to the process and see it as a regeneration. We are used to everything we do generating waste and impact, but what if things were different, and we contributed to a regeneration process through everything we did?
Fungi have the unique ability to grow in destroyed landscapes. Pine trees, for example, with the help of their associated fungal partners, often flourish in landscapes burned by humans; pines and fungi work together to take advantage of bright open spaces and exposed mineral soils (pg.192).
Fungi can also help heal other species. A fungus called Metarhizium protects against mites, a big problem in bee colonies. They can lead to Colony Collapse Disorder, sometimes killing up to 50% of the hive. Many beekeepers use pesticides, which often makes them more resistant. Fungi provide the medicine bees need to adapt and survive in their habitats, which benefits the entire ecosystem.
Regenerative agriculture practices both use and benefit fungi. If fashion only used regenerative agriculture processes, each purchase would have a positive impact. Imagine furniture made exclusively of waste; each house would be a regenerative project.
Engajamundo
Fungi’s ability to evoke change through it’s natural processes can even be applied to how we organize in climate action movements. After finding that COP wasn't a relatable space for youth to voice concerns, Raquel Rosenberg co-founded Engajamundo, a group that aims to occupy UN spaces with Brazilian youth and address deforestation in Brazil. A significant focus is on capacity building for these collectives; with local hubs in almost every state in Brazil, this network of youth are taught strategies for organizing activism movements and the autonomy to work on projects surrounding climate they’re most passionate about. The goal of creating the group is to develop activities and action methods that youth can replicate with friends, create something new from it or adapt to their realities.
Raquel, co-organiser of Engajamundo, “I can’t help but think of mycelium and how that is the key to a healthy network of exchange — openness, adaptability, flexibility.”
In the mounting pressure of the climate crisis, finding new ways of organising has never been more critical. Especially in Brazil, where the voices of youth are most important as they’re feeling the direct impacts of ecosystem and biodiversity loss. Fungi teach us how to organise, adapt, and stay open to create strong networks that have the potential to facilitate real change.
Taking things slow
The speed of Fashion: H&M alone has up to 50 collections that come out in their 4,338 stores globally, and are sourced in 1,027 tier 1 factories. The rapidity at which each supplier has to work to get thousands of styles out in time for the drop is insane: they barely have time to know the approximate volumes to start ordering materials and trims so they can come out in time.
The speed of fungi is extremely different: it can take years for a trunk that falls in the forest to be transformed into nutrients for other plants through the hard work of fungi. Fungi are clearly rejecting the imperialism of time & capitalist model of labour!
The current model of fashion is way too fast: no matter how many audits and certifications are used, if there is no time to build trust, a strong relationship, and a well-constructed supply chain selected with sustainability in mind, there is no way that anything good can come out of it. If there are only a few days to finalise the design of a garment, there is no way it can be designed for disassembly; thinking of innovative ways to separate all materials to allow upcycling.
We should learn from fungi: good things take time.
Change our perspective from linear to collective
As we shift our perspective on fashion from linear to collective, fungi might have the answers we need to guide us in this new direction.
Fungi have a unique way of being; they are non-binary. They don’t follow traditional ecological rules. Not only do they have tens of thousands of combinations for sex, but they also can change their sex throughout their lives and don’t subscribe to one sexual preference.
This makes it hard for fungi to be categorised and fully understood by scientific measures, similar to how queerness is often misunderstood or judged by society.
Fungi prove that nature is innately queer and fluid which allows them to adapt to their environments and practice flexibility and collaboration. Fungi force us to focus on the relationship between species, shifting us towards a more collective, open-minded way of thinking.
When applied to fashion, this shift could reflect a collective approach with more equitable supply chain where all stakeholders and working together to support each other and prioritize sustainable practices.
We live in a world where, sadly, racism, sexism and homophobia, all based on binaries, are still common and drive a lot of poor and inequitable decision-making in leadership. Ironically, non-binary uncertainty and instability will be inevitable when dealing with climate change. Being and thinking less binary, just as fungi do, could help us better react and transform the fashion system to better address the climate crisis!
EXAMPLES IN FASHION
The company SQIM is exploring how mycelium can be used for design, a relationship that the founder Maurizio Montalti, believes must be symbiotic and collaborative rather than extractive.
Montalti is fascinated by the fearful approach to death in the West, seeing it as something that should be “explored, understood, and accepted as a fundamental, beautiful, complementary part to life”.
Wouldn’t it be amazing if the same approach was applied to waste? Rather than hiding and ignoring waste, it should be celebrated as a resource!
The company Tomtex has developed two leather alternatives based on chitosan, a material they source from two locations: mushrooms and seafood waste, which we have an abundance of.
CONCLUSIONS
As we continue to look for solutions in fashion, it’s important to turn to nature as a source of inspiration, not only for materials but also for processes & organisms, big or small! The interconnectedness, resilience, and sustainability that Fungi possess urge us to rethink our approach to various systems, including fashion and climate action.
By embracing the collaborative spirit of fungi, we can transform our supply chains into equitable networks. As we adapt to the complexities of our changing world, the presence and adaptive nature of fungi can help us foster a culture of regeneration and collective growth. Let’s honor the intricate web of life that fungi represent while paving the way for a more sustainable future.
Until Next time,
Stay Diligent x
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