Press
MushLume Lighting, founded by designer Danielle Trofe, has been featured in leading international publications including The Wall Street Journal, Wired, CNN, Forbes, and The Guardian for its pioneering work in mycelium lighting and sustainable material innovation. Through a biofabrication process that grows lighting from hemp and mycelium, MushLume sits at the intersection of design, science, and environmental responsibility—redefining how materials are used, produced, and returned to the earth.
ICFF
ICFF features Danielle Trofe, founder of MushLume Lighting, in a discussion on the future of sustainable design and material innovation. The article highlights her perspective on the growing demand for environmentally responsible products alongside the challenges of greenwashing and unclear sustainability standards. It details MushLume’s biofabrication process, in which lampshades are grown using mycelium and locally sourced hemp, forming a solid structure within days with minimal water and energy input. The feature emphasizes a closed-loop lifecycle approach—designing products that are safe for human health, minimize resource extraction, and are fully biodegradable at end of life. It also introduces MushLume’s expansion into acoustic lighting, demonstrating how mycelium-based materials can provide both illumination and sound absorption in interior environments.
Elle Décoration France
Elle Décoration France features Danielle Trofe, founder of MushLume Lighting, in a portfolio of designers shaping New York’s contemporary design scene. The article highlights her work with mycelium as a natural, biodegradable, and fire-resistant material, developed through years of experimentation in her Brooklyn studio. It describes how her lighting is grown by allowing mycelium to develop within controlled conditions before being stabilized into durable forms, resulting in organic, sculptural fixtures. The feature also notes her continued exploration of new applications for mycelium, including lighting collections and installations that investigate both aesthetic and functional properties such as light diffusion and sound absorption.
DesignWanted
DesignWanted features MushLume Lighting’s work at the intersection of design, science, and sustainability. The article explores how mycelium-based materials can be grown into lighting forms, emphasizing both the aesthetic qualities and environmental benefits of biofabrication.
Yanko Design
Yanko Design features the MushLume Lighting collection by Danielle Trofe, highlighting its use of mycelium as a sustainable alternative to conventional lighting materials such as metal, plastic, and glass. The article explains how mycelium—grown within a hemp substrate—is formed in molds, then dried and heat-treated to create lightweight, durable lampshades. It emphasizes the material’s low-energy production process, minimal water use, and biodegradable end-of-life, positioning MushLume as an example of design innovation that challenges traditional manufacturing methods while exploring the future potential of biofabricated materials.
Design Milk
Design Milk highlights MushLume Lighting’s sculptural approach to mycelium lighting, showcasing how natural growth processes can inform contemporary product design. The feature explores the aesthetic and environmental benefits of biofabrication, where each fixture is grown using living mycelium and agricultural byproducts.
Dezeen
Dezeen features MushLume Lighting as part of its coverage of the ICFF Look Book exhibition, which highlights emerging and established lighting designers across North America. The article presents MushLume’s 10-year anniversary collection, An Ode To Nature, composed of biofabricated lighting made from hemp and mycelium. It situates the brand within a broader group of designers exploring material innovation and contemporary lighting design, noting MushLume’s position at the intersection of science and design.
Good Housekeeping
MushLume Lighting is featured in Good Housekeeping UK as part of its coverage of sustainable home products and materials. The article highlights the use of mycelium and hemp to create biodegradable lighting, demonstrating how innovative materials can be integrated into everyday living environments.
NPR
In a January 27, 2023, episode of NPR's The Pulse (WHYY), biodesigner Danielle Trofe discussed her innovative work creating lampshades from mushroom mycelium. Trofe, a leader in biofabrication and founder of MushLume Lighting, explained her process of growing sustainable materials and incorporating biomimicry into design.
The Business of Home
MushLume Lighting, founded by Danielle Trofe, is featured in Business of Home for its innovative approach to mycelium lighting and sustainable product design. The coverage highlights how biofabrication—using hemp and living mycelium—can be applied to lighting, offering a biodegradable alternative to conventional materials used in interiors.
CNBC
CNBC’s Nightly Business Report features Danielle Trofe, founder of MushLume Lighting, highlighting her use of mycelium—the root structure of mushrooms—to grow biodegradable lampshades. The segment explains how hemp and mycelium are combined and grown in molds over several days, then heat-treated to create a lightweight, fire-resistant, and stable material. It also covers the commercial adoption of MushLume lighting, including a large-scale installation at 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge, and Trofe’s collaboration with biomaterials company Ecovative. The feature positions her work within a broader shift toward nature-inspired design and sustainable manufacturing.
Bon Appétit
Bon Appétit features MushLume Lighting within its coverage of innovative uses of food-adjacent and organic materials. The article highlights how mycelium—the root structure of mushrooms—can be used beyond food applications to create biodegradable lighting, demonstrating the crossover between food systems, material innovation, and sustainable design.
Industry Magazine
Industry Magazine features Danielle Trofe, founder of MushLume Lighting, highlighting her work at the intersection of biomimicry, materials science, and sustainable design. The article explores her development of mycelium-based lighting grown from agricultural byproducts such as hemp and corn stalks, emphasizing a low-energy, rapid-growth alternative to traditional materials. It details her collaboration with biomaterials company Ecovative, her hands-on studio process in Brooklyn, and her commitment to creating function-forward, environmentally responsible lighting through biofabrication and craft.
New York Magazine
New York Magazine features Danielle Trofe, founder of MushLume Lighting, as one of four inspiring New York entrepreneurs building purpose-driven businesses. The article highlights her journey from relocating to Brooklyn and working multiple jobs to launching an internationally recognized design studio focused on sustainable materials. It spotlights the MushLume Lighting collection—biodegradable fixtures grown from mycelium and agricultural waste—as a defining example of her work at the intersection of design, science, and environmental responsibility.
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal features MushLume Lighting as an emerging leader in sustainable lighting design. The coverage emphasizes the brand’s innovative use of mycelium and hemp to create carbon-conscious lighting solutions, positioning MushLume at the intersection of design, science, and environmental responsibility.
Forbes
Forbes features MushLume Lighting as part of its coverage of innovation in sustainable design and materials. The article highlights the company’s use of mycelium and hemp to create lighting that is grown to shape, positioning MushLume within a new generation of businesses redefining how products are made and their environmental impact.
darc
darc magazine features MushLume Lighting within the context of contemporary lighting design and innovation. The article explores how mycelium-based materials can be used to create functional lighting with natural acoustic and environmental properties, positioning MushLume within emerging conversations around material-driven lighting design.
Core77
Core77 features Danielle Trofe, founder of MushLume Lighting, in its Design for Impact series highlighting designers advancing environmental and social change. The article explores her development of mycelium-based lighting grown from agricultural waste and living fungal networks, emphasizing a cradle-to-grave approach to sustainability. It details how MushLume fixtures are grown to shape using hemp and mycelium, then returned safely to the earth at end of life. The feature also highlights Trofe’s use of biomimicry and digital tools, including Autodesk Fusion 360, to design products inspired by natural systems and closed-loop material cycles.
CNN
Danielle Trofe is a sustainable design expert known for her innovative MushLume lighting collection, which uses mushroom mycelium grown into molds to create biodegradable lampshades. As highlighted in CNN reports, she works with Ecovative Design’s biomatieralsto grow sustainable, agricultural-waste-based furniture and lighting.
Vice
VICE features MushLume Lighting in its coverage of experimental design and unconventional materials. The article explores how mycelium can be grown into functional objects such as lighting, highlighting the intersection of biology, design, and sustainability in creating alternatives to traditional manufacturing.
Business Insider
Business Insider features MushLume Lighting as part of a broader look at innovative startups using bio-based materials. The article highlights the company’s use of mycelium and hemp to produce biodegradable lighting, positioning MushLume as a forward-thinking brand within the sustainable design and materials space.