Two SFT undergraduates, Minkyeong Bae and Jiyeong Ko, are recipients of the esteemed 2023 United Nations Millennium Fellowship. They received this honour based on an innovative collaborative project titled “The Patience is Bitter, but the Result is Fruitful”. This initiative initially originated in one of the subjects supervised by Assistant Professor Dr Chloe Ki. In their application for the fellowship, Minkyeong and Jiyeong outlined their future aspirations to expand and enhance the scope of this project.
The inspiration behind this project was drawn from the eco-conscious initiatives of a fashion brand, sparked by Minkyeong and Jiyeong's impromptu visit to Ralph Lauren's Ralph's Coffee in Hong Kong. Their awareness was stirred by the alarming statistic that nearly 45% of edible produce is discarded because they are ugly food. Guided by their studies in SFT, they recognised the potential of repurposing these surplus yet aesthetically unpleasing fruit for clothing and accessories within the fashion industry. In their project, they envisioned a novel business strategy for the brand. This included the introduction of a tailored environmental, social, and governance (ESG) vending machine, dedicated to the collection and recycling of ugly food. Their initiative also aimed to enhance children’s awareness of fruit fiber cycles, while simultaneously fostering the investment of fashion brands in ESG practices. Additionally, leveraging the metaverse platform ZEPETO, they constructed a virtual world with the intention of enlightening younger generations about the environmental implications associated with integrating fruit fiber into fashion industry applications.
Minkyeong and Jiyeong expressed their appreciation to Dr Ki for her support and as recipients of the fellowship: "Dr Ki's invaluable guidance played a pivotal role in aligning our project with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals 12 and 14. We are genuinely thrilled and deeply honored to have been chosen to join the ranks of the Millennium Fellowship Class of 2023 — an esteemed cohort that includes over 4,000 accomplished peers from more than 260 campuses worldwide. As beneficiaries of the UN Millennium Fellowship, we aspire to take on a leading role in making substantial contributions towards a cleaner and healthier future, with a particular focus on the fashion industry."
