Author: Hongbin Gu

Problem

Overall

Fur, one of the oldest clothing fabric used today for more than 12,000 years(Handwerk 2021), seeks to harmonize the traditional commercial demand with concerns related to animals and the environment. In Balls, Lewis and Miller’s report(2022), the factor leading the declining of real fur consumption are mainly animal rights campaigns, government regulations, and changing trends. At the same time, new-age fossil alternatives (faux fur) are not able to match eco-friendly requirement and natural performance as genuine one.

Preliminary Industry Interviews

From Limin Cao- As a senior fur industry practitioner, she reviewed the development of the fur industry in China, but also emphasised the current public opinion and pollution problems for the industry’s fatal blow! (Details on link)

Stakeholder Investigation-5

From Chen- His ideas and the evidence provided go a long way to prove that faux fur, a technological alternative for cultural fur, struggles with sustainable fashion and high brand image marketing. (Details on link)

Stakeholder Investigation-4
Evidence for Animal Cruelty
Evidence of Dying Pollution
Complaint from PURUSHU ARIE

Reference

  1. Brian Handwerk(2021), Evidence of Fur and Leather Clothing, Among World’s Oldest, Found in Moroccan Cave, Science, Smithsonian Magazine[Website], Available at: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/evidence-of-fur-and-leather-clothing-among-worlds-oldest-found-in-moroccan-cave-180978689/ (Accessed on 31st July 2023 ).
  2. Lawton S (2019), Skin 1: The structure and functions of the skin. Nursing Times [online], Available at: https://www.nursingtimes.net/clinical-archive/dermatology/skin-1-the-structure-and-functions-of-the-skin-25-11-2019/ (Accessed on 31st July 2023 ).

Iteration of the Research Question

How can we reduce the impact of future fur products on animals and environment?

This is my final research question. From the beginning of my research to the end of my master journey, my research question has been optimised by three tutors and up to two semesters. The changes of my research question, indeed, reflect to my iteration of knowledge and output at some extents.

Stage 1

At the beginning of my study, I did not have a clear research question, and my attention was focused on the general issue of China’s manufacturing transformation. Under Sasha’s guidance, I gradually focused on the importance of technological upgrading for the transformation of the manufacturing industry. Moreover, I did some related reading and research at that time.

Stage 2
The most important change came from Zuleika’s tutorials. With her encouragement, I retrieved the concept of bio-synthetic fur (a research topic I initially provided in my master’s application proposal). I have to admit that, unlike the usual approach of identifying a problem and then solving it, my project was more like tracing the problem back to the significance of the new concept. The bio-synthetic fur is both a refinement of my previous research question on technology enhancement and a more realistic and attractive research direction for me personally. Then, following Zuleika’s advice, I have written 20 versions of the research question:

20 Versions of Research Question

Eventually, my first edition of research question is confirmed, How can reduce environment and animal influence for future fur products?

Stage 3

With guidance from George, I was able to optimise the question finally to How can we reduce the impact of future fur products on animals and environment? On the one hand this is a more grammatically sound formulation, and on the other hand added word, WE, can make the issue more relatable to the audience.

Weekly Summary 6

This week I mainly worked on revisions to my presentation and a meeting with investor,  Will Medd.

Based on feedback from George and the group members in the last session, I have added some sections on synthesis techniques and current achievements, as well as adding and subtracting from the presentation, and hopefully will be able to make some changes in the last tutorial session next week.

Most importantly, I had my second meeting with Will Medd this week, where we discussed the progress of the project and some suggestions for further development, and the interest shown by Will has gone a long way to boosting my confidence in continuing with the project!

Investor Conversation

Will Medd is an investment-based stakeholder and founder of Goldsmith Partners, he is financing SME and ME technology businesses. Winning and delivering technology and engineering projects. General management, non-exec functions, company and technology acquisition, fund raising and technical due diligence across: Aerospace, Marine, Natural Resources, Energy, Science and Technology.(According to Linkedin)

This was my second meeting with Will, and the entire meeting lasted nearly an hour, but for some privacy reasons, I’ve captured the last ten minutes of this dialogue.

Weekly Summary 5

This week I mainly prepare for my assessment report and final presentation.

Following George’s advice, I have revised the questions, some of the structure and content of the assessment report. Although the research is not yet complete, the progress so far ensures that only a few additions will be needed in the following weeks.

In preparation for the presentation, I have made a PowerPoint and prepared a speech, and I hope that with continued practice, I will be able to use the five minutes to successfully convey the concept of bio-synthetic fur in a future formal presentation session.

Finally, I had a second meeting with Jason Zhou this week, in which we exchanged views on the current progress of the project, the difficulties we are facing, and our plans for the future. In addition, through the conversation, I learnt about a theoretical direction of cellular moralization, which creates more diversified ideas for the realization of bio-synthetic fur.

Weekly Summary 4

This week, in addition to the usual stakeholder investigation and tutorial wrap-ups, I mainly did a brand survey and a follow up on Dragon Den.

After the interview of stakeholder, Molly in this issue, I got to know a Chinese brand ICICLE, although it is not a material research and development brand(ethical fashion brand), but as a new generation brand with a lot of influence in China, its concept has a lot of similarities with my bio-synthetic fur. Therefore, some understanding and learning about ICICLE helped me to follow up the bio-synthetic fur product plan writing.

In addition, according to Dragon Den and George’s recommendation, I tried to communicate with teacher from Material Future by email, but unfortunately I haven’t got a reply yet.