FABRIC: MIRUM®
Regions: Illinois, USA
Fabric Name:
Mirum®
Origin:
Plant waste
Who made our fabric:
Natural Fiber Welding, Peoria, Illinois
Natural history and ecology:
MIRUM® is an entirely new kind of leather-like material - 100% plastic free. MIRUM® is made with natural nutrient and bioneutral ingredients, never plastics or petrochemicals. It is unique in its ability to deliver functionality, durability, and aesthetic beauty without relying on petrochemical or synthetic inputs. Using plant inputs allows MIRUM to support the positive benefits of agriculture. By utilizing regenerative farming practices they help sink carbon by building healthy soil through photosynthesis.
What makes this so special:
MIRUM® is the first material of its kind designed to be both 100% recyclable and 100% circular in nature. It does not contain any petrochemicals or plastics, so the entire material can be returned to the earth safely at the end of its life.
The future is Plants.
Not Plastic.
“My pursuit is to build a purpose-driven organization that enables people everywhere to live more abundantly and in less conflict over finite resources.”
— Dr. Luke Haverhals/ Mirum®
“Don’t reinvent the wheel; you don’t have to undo all this great hierarchical work that Mother Nature has put in and then rebuild it. Just get it to the point where it’s malleable and you can start playing with the ability to form and shape it.”
— Greg Stillman / Mirum®
Greg Stillman
Greg Stillman, General Manager of Natural Fiber Welding (NFW). Stillman, originally a chemist, started off working with the U.S. Department of Energy, until he realized he wanted to get out of the lab—and into the action. Now, with NFW, he works to develop technologies to create sustainable materials and inspire a circular fashion production cycle. NFW starts and ends with the Earth: using nature’s elements to create material, and making sure that material can be 100% returnable to the Earth when it reaches its end. To Stillman, textiles are a natural realm with which to bring people into the environmental cause, as he says, “I’m hard pressed to find somebody who doesn’t have an intimate relationship with textiles. Whether they know it or not…The minute you’re born, you’re wrapped in a textile. Most people still die wrapped in a textile. When you wake up, when you take a shower or everything you do…” As such, the work Stillman does at NFW recognizes the ubiquity of fabric, and he loves that just by touching NFW’s products, a consumer is able to feel their story.