Luxury fashion brands Marni, Maison Margiela, and Jil Sander are spearheading a digital transformation by introducing authenticity certificates embedded in products.
- Italian company OTB is leading the charge with plans to certify 1.5 million products, starting with the autumn/winter 2024 collections.
- Each garment will feature an NFC chip that registers the product on Aura, a blockchain platform enhancing traceability.
- The initiative stems from a collaboration with LVMH, Microsoft, and ConsenSys to promote transparency in the luxury market.
- Stefano Rosso, CEO of Marni, highlights the advancement as a significant leap in ensuring consumer trust and transparency.
Luxury brands Marni, Maison Margiela, and Jil Sander are revolutionising the fashion industry with their recent move to incorporate digital authenticity certificates in their products. This initiative promises to enhance consumer trust by verifying the origins and authenticity of each item.
Italian fashion conglomerate OTB, which owns these brands, is at the forefront of this innovation. The company has announced its ambitious plan to certify 1.5 million luxury products, beginning with the autumn/winter 2024 collections. The integration of these digital certificates marks a significant step towards greater transparency and consumer confidence in the high-end fashion market.
Central to this process is the Near Field Communication (NFC) chip embedded in each garment or accessory. This technology will register every product on the Aura blockchain platform, a system initially developed in partnership with luxury giant LVMH, Microsoft, and ConsenSys. Aura was launched in 2019, aiming to ensure luxury products’ traceability and authenticity.
In 2021, the Aura Blockchain Consortium was formed, bringing together leading luxury brands committed to transparency and traceability. As a founding member, OTB joined forces with industry leaders like the Prada Group and Richemont. OTB has already registered around 1.2 million products with NFC chips on the blockchain since early 2022, underpinning their commitment to this digital endeavour.
The recent inclusion of brands like Jil Sander, Maison Margiela, and Marni expands the ecosystem of digital certification, providing consumers access to detailed product information and origins through their smartphones. This technological leap fosters a new level of interaction between consumers and luxury products.
Stefano Rosso, the CEO of Marni, articulated the value of this advancement, emphasising how it enhances transparency and offers a high-profile experience for clients of luxury brands. “This is an important advance in the OTB innovation process,” Rosso stated, underlining the significance of integrating blockchain technology into production processes.
The integration of digital authenticity certificates marks a pivotal step towards increased transparency and consumer confidence in the luxury fashion industry.
