Besides being grotesque and vain, it just breaches ethical limits... probably making a scientist shed a tear or two somewhere, to devote years working so hard on something that might move humanity a millimeter closer in terms of research and survival only to have your standard fashion airhead jump at the chance of his so-called forecast of genetic exploitation for luxury goods, proudly claiming to break "fashion laws" by using said work to decorate a) a luxury item, b) thirst for celebrity culture, and c) ambitions as a fashion designer. Not function or purpose whatsoever, just something to sit nicely in a museum, appear in a magazine, get talked about and of course get his career started.
Some great science + fashion projects coming out of CSM lately but this is just pure H&M/Instagram generation, wanting controversy, celebrity and immediate stardom at any cost and no matter how low they need to fall as humans.
This type of things make you wonder a bit about these academic programs, maybe too much focus cultivating "talent" and abilities to push the envelope and poor efforts to make fashion less archaic and selfish, more critical and demanding. I mean fashion being distastefully dumb and extraordinarily greedy is the fashion we all know and are bored with... how about nurturing responsibility and ethics so that the field eventually develops a relevant input next to others in maybe 30 years?
That being said, and probably the least of his concerns, it does make for a good internal debate on double standards with animal skin, and why is skin from another type of animal other than us less uncomfortable.. same for anonymity, and why does it feel slightly better even if he died violently just to provide his skin instead of being lab-grown from someone that lived with enough physical freedom in order to die willingly.
