Fungal Fashion to Fight Fire: Dr Alia Parker Exhibits '(non)combustible clothing'

As the climate continues to warm due to human-generated forces we will likely experience an increase in moderate to extreme fire events in the Australian bush, along the coast and on the urban fringe (IPCC, 2021). These events endanger human and more-than-human lives and urge us to rethink our relationship to material ecologies. 

Rather than using non-renewable synthetic materials for clothing that contribute to the climate crisis, Dr Alia Parker, a Design lecturer at the School of Art and Design, asks:

Can fungal materials that have been sustainably grown, completely decompose and even assist in regenerating fire-affected ecologies, also protect you from the blaze? 

Parker's major new work (non)combustible clothing is currently on display as part of Melbourne University Science Gallery's latest exhibition EMERGENCE(Y). 

The exhibition brings together artists, scientists, and collaborators from around the globe to explore how we adapt to a world in flux. In an age marked by ecological collapse, technological acceleration, and social upheaval, adaptation becomes not only a biological imperative but a creative and ethical act. Spanning from the cellular to the planetary, EMERGENCE[Y] explores how adaptation unfolds in every layer of life – from the regenerative promise of stem cells to the movement of Martian winds. 

(non)combustible clothing presents a collection of speculative garments made with a composite of mushroom mycelium (the vegetative component of fungi) and post-consumer cotton textile waste. Mushroom mycelium is naturally fire-retardant, hydrophobic, anti-bacterial and compostable – making it a compelling material in times of emergence(y). This project contributes to new research on the fire-retardant properties of mushroom mycelium and its potential applications, and engages audiences to imagine alternative fungal fashion futures. 

The mushroom mycelium materials have been grown in Parker's Canberra-based bio-design studio and working with designer and maker Imogen Keen, sewn onto a deep indigo 100% cotton denim. This base cloth has a longer legacy, used in historical Japanese fire fighting garments as natural indigo possesses fire-retardant properties of its own.

The wearable prototypes are installed as an interactive installation, where audiences can touch, dress-up and take a selfie of themselves in a photobooth in novel mycelium materials. 

EMERGENCE(Y) opened on the 6th of June and will be open to the public until the 5th of December 2026.