*The function of biomimicry approach in sustainable fashion design without greenwashing (Case study: Stella McCartney's Mylo leather)

Nowadays, addressing environmental issues is a high priority in the design process, especially in the fashion industry, which faces increasing pressure to reduce its environmental impact. As consumers’ awareness of the ecological impact of this sector increases, the demand for environmentally friendly fashion is rising, and some brands are choosing greenwashing strategies to win in this competitive field and present a sustainable image of themselves. Greenwashing, characterized by misleading green claims, creates confusion and distrust among consumers, ultimately hindering the sustainability process. At the same time, as the demand for sustainable raw materials such as leather increases in the fashion industry, greenwashing trends are also emerging more and more. One often overlooked aspect is the sustainability of natural materials like leather. It is frequently argued that leather is more environmentally friendly because it is a natural product. In contrast, its synthetic alternatives are made of polyester or acrylic. Unaware that certain processes such as leather tanning require the use of toxic chemicals that infiltrate the ecosystem and pollute it. Although synthetic leather has a quarter of the environmental impact of cowhide due to the absence of animal husbandry and traditional tanning processes, making it environmentally friendly, it uses hazardous chemicals derived from fossil fuels in the production process, which are not biodegradable. It is claimed that the gap from this type of greenwashing can be closed by utilizing the knowledge of nature as defined through biomimicry. All natural processes operate through sustainable cycles. Incorporating circular processes into human-made systems is essential for bridging the sustainability gap across all sectors. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to examine how the biomimicry approach works in sustainable fashion design without greenwashing, which was followed by choosing the leading designer in this field, Stella McCartney, and purposefully choosing a product derived from the biomimicry in her portfolio under the title of Mylo leather. To explore how the biomimicry approach functions in sustainable fashion design without leading to greenwashing, a descriptive-analytical method was implemented, and research data was gathered through library studies, including books, scientific articles, and reputable websites. The findings suggest that a competitor in the leather market, utilizing fungal biomass, leverages bio-pattern knowledge. This approach offers a promising, cost-effective, socially responsible, and bio-sustainable alternative to cowhide and synthetic leather. This bio leather is an innovation derived from the biomimicry approach and offers many sustainable benefits compared to natural and synthetic leather, which can help reduce greenwashing trends. Designers in the fashion industry who engage in the early stages of product development can incorporate sustainability features into the currently unsustainable fashion cycle by supporting and investing in innovations inspired by nature. Nature, which has always had a stable cyclical process in its evolution, can be the best model for transforming the linear flow of fashion into a circular one and marginalizing greenwashing. Although Mylo leather still has some obstacles as a green solution in the fashion world, improving it can promise green days without greenwashing and leave a bright spot for the future.