A New York-based design studio is growing lampshades from mushrooms rather than manufacturing them, in one of the more literal examples yet of biofabricated lighting reaching the market.
Danielle Trofe Design’s MushLume collection combines mycelium, the root-like network of fungi, with hemp hurd, a fibrous byproduct of hemp processing that would otherwise go to waste. The two materials are packed into moulds and left for several days, during which the mycelium’s hyphae bind the hemp fibres into a solid, stable structure. The growth process is then halted by drying, fixing the shade’s final shape before it is finished by hand.
Founder Danielle Trofe began experimenting with mycelium in 2014 while researching alternatives to conventional lighting materials, and launched the first MushLume prototypes at New York Design Week in 2013. The collection has since expanded through partnerships with biomaterials specialists, and MushLume now sells in Europe as well as the US.
The environmental case rests on both inputs. Hemp requires comparatively little land and water to cultivate and draws down carbon dioxide as it grows, while mycelium itself needs minimal energy and water to produce, generating no toxic run-off. At end of life, the shades are compostable, returning to soil rather than landfill.
The lamps are handmade in Brooklyn and have picked up multiple design awards, part of a wider push by Trofe to normalise biodesign, in which living organisms are grown into finished products rather than assembled from extracted or synthetic materials.
‘The moment I learned you could grow objects to shape with a living organism, I knew this was something I had to pursue,’ Trofe has said of the work, which now includes acoustic panels alongside the original lampshades, exploiting mycelium’s natural sound-dampening properties.
• Learn more sustainable materials at a special session at Circular Lighting Live 2026, Recolight’s flagship conference and exhibition, which takes place on Thursday 8 October 2026 at the Minster Building in the City of London. Free to specifiers, Circular Lighting Live 2026 will feature leading experts, specifiers and policy makers who will share their insights into forthcoming standards and legislation, emerging technologies and new business models. More at www.circularlighting.live
