After counting five different items in a Brighton homeware shop emblazoned with mushrooms, the case was clear: the humble fungus has risen from the mascot of underground hippy culture to a grandma-friendly motif, hewn into everything from tea towels to tiles.
It’s not just cutesy seaside emporiums: “Mushroomcore” is a sartorial expression. Bella Hadid, Fiorucci and Hollister all tout funghi in their collections. Scour the high street and you’ll find mushrooms sprouting on everything from £10 Primark disco balls to £725 Nicholas Pourfard lamps.
“A few years ago, if you saw a mushroom on someone’s tee, you’d assume they were into tripping, alternative medicine or folkloric culture,” says Ella Glover, a journalist who covers drugs and culture. “The mushroom was a signifier that you were different. Now it’s just mainstream.”
Research into magic mushrooms (and their psychoactive compound, psilocybin) as treatment for a range of health conditions has thrust mycelium onto our screens and timelines. The therapeutic potential of psychedelics and the vast, interconnected mycelial world and its role in the global ecosystem has been explored in a range of culture-changing books, from Michael Pollan’s 2018 effort How To Change Your Mind, later adapted into a Netflix series, and the 2019 documentary Fantastic Fungi. These helped to underline how fascinating and vital mushrooms really are, connecting plants and trees, decomposing organic matter and recycling nutrients like carbon and nitrogen back into the soil.
One thing you might be seeing less of is the fly agaric mushroom, the famous red one with white spots popular from folklore, which can be neurotoxic
And then there’s Joe Rogan – arguably the world’s most famous podcaster – who has been open about using magic mushrooms. “Mushrooms, alongside other natural drugs like cannabis, are less stigmatised in fitness communities, and I genuinely think it’s the Rogan effect,” says Glover.
Tottenham-based Fat Fox Mushrooms is a mushroom-based workshop and grow kit company, formed by Lex Truax and co-founder Ben Blackwell. When I called she was “neck-deep in mycelium,” responding to huge Londoner demand. For the first couple of years, if she were at a market, people would ask about ‘special mushrooms’ with a nudge and a wink, but Lex Truax says they “get much less of that now.” Half the people who attend her workshops are taking Lion’s Mane supplements. “Two or three years ago, most people hadn’t even heard of that.”
Fancy fungi are available everywhere from Holland & Barrett to high-end gyms like Sloane Square’s Vita Boutique, which serves mushroom matchas and coffees alongside your standard Green Goddess smoothie. Fallow on Haymarket is renowned for serving homegrown lion’s mane and ‘hen of the wood’ burgers.
One thing you might be seeing less of is the fly agaric mushroom, the famous red one with white spots popular from folklore, which can be neurotoxic, leading to dizziness and vomiting. “It was the only mushroom emoji for a long time,” says Truax. “But things have changed.”
Despite the lack of scientific evidence, the functional mushroom market is predicted to grow from around £795m in 2023 to £1.68bn internationally by 2030. Mushrooms are being marketed for every modern ailment, from anxiety to ADHD, and legal fungal-based remedies now come in the form of drops, teas and capsules. With mushroomcore in full bloom, expect to see it everywhere as you start your Christmas shopping. I’ve just found some sewn onto John Lewis babygrows, for goodness sake.