Summer 2023. In reaction to the news of the halt in production of Mylo, the mycelium-based alternative to leather, Stella McCartney enthusiastically announced a partnership with Mirum, the alternative to leather made from various agricultural by-products. Well, 15 months later, Mirum is in crisis as well. If the British fashion designer’s goal is, as she has so often said, to be an ambassador for cruelty-free fashion, it must be assumed that the market is not so interested in her messages.
Mirum is in crisis
The CEO resigned in October for “personal reasons” while remaining on the board. A “significant” part of the staff was shown the door at the beginning of November, due to “delays in closing contracts”, which blew up “a round of financing” that had been planned for some time. From upstairs, they say that everything will be done to ensure the financial continuity of Natural Fiber Welding (NFW), the US start-up that produces Mirum and a fabric named Clarus, but Sourcing Journal notes, en passant, two facts. The first: the company “reorganisation” comes a year after a round of redundancies that has already seen 10% of employees lose their jobs. The second: the startup’s crisis comes in the midst of a general crisis in the fashion industry that has already seen numerous sustainable “innovators” fail. Just like Mylo, for example.
McCartney’s messages
That Stella McCartney is “a PR failure” is a fact. The facts confirm that not only does she have great difficulty in keeping her own brand accounts in order, but she is also not so strong in boosting those of the companies she adopts. With Mylo’s failure (due to impossible industrial and commercial scalability), the designer not only selected Mirum for her accessories (pictured), but invested directly in NFW. The results are there for all to see. McCartney says she would never use leather: and thank goodness, we reply.
Read also:
- Out with Mylo, McCartney tries again with Mirum
- Tesla was finally convinced to use leather by Chinese customers
