High-End Fashion Brand Alyx Looks At Iota’s Blockchain to Track Garment Authenticity

Fashion designer Matthew William’s high end fashion label Alyx today confirmed that it will use Iota Foundation’s blockchain distributed ledger technology to monitor apparel manufacturing from raw inputs to finished goods.

The scheme, which will be used to impart customer confidence, brings together the technical expertise of materials science firm Avery Dennison and supply chain visibility business Evrything in conjunction with Alyx and Iota.

Using a quick response (QR) code written on a label attached to the product being considered for purchase, a client can use an app to trace a shirt or any other dress to “track to cabinet” to see where the products came from, where the clothes were made, which factory the dress was stitched and eventually delivered to the shop.

Debbie Shakespeare, senior director of sustainability and compliance at Avery Dennison, commented as follows:

“Brands and consumers can know that the information they are being shown about the garment’s creation process is 100% accurate and can be trusted implicitly.”

This, luxury brands have started to reckon, will fill a lacking step in brand confidence. By enabling consumers to better comprehend the origin of their garments, companies aim to instill a stronger feeling of real value in customer minds.

Matthew Williams, the British fashion designer who works for the Alyx label, said

“Blockchain and distributed ledger technology is the future for effective brand protection. By supplying product information, supply chain traceability and transparent dialogue with the consumer, the brand’s authenticity is globally secured.”

Blockchain technology works by sharing a single ledger between various parties that facilitates adding fresh transaction information only with members ‘ agreement. The technique utilizes a cryptographic system that saves information from tampering, implying that once a transaction has been added to the blockchain, it can be fairly believed it has not altered.

Any unusual happenings at the time of garment’s transit can be registered and collected in a supply chain. This implies profound insight into the brand supply chain, which implies the capacity to generate trustworthy, precise stats. Increased information given to products across production and distribution channels, coupled with client preferences and communication, would offer real-time access to business observations.

Debbie Shakespeare, senior director of sustainability and compliance at Avery Dennison, said

“Our innovative solution combines our Janela platform with a new blockchain layer, providing consumers and brands with fundamental uncompromisable data. Brands and consumers can know that the information they are being shown about the garment’s creation process is 100% accurate and can be trusted implicitly.”

Blockchain innovation remains to be investigated by various sectors to boost consumer and business brand confidence. For instance, IBM Corp. developed the IBM Food Trust blockchain to enhance food security by monitoring food from farm to shop shelf, and the World Wildlife Fund providing evidence of ethical meat sourcing.

Other businesses attempted blockchain alternatives to boost customer confidence for items like De Beers ‘ diamonds, industrial minerals for Ford Motor Co. ,  Cobalt for batteries and lead for Volkswagon Group.

Shakespeare said

“This is a watershed moment for improving brand transparency and trust.”

An obvious example of how the app operates is the utilization of the app by a client to view the shirt’s QR code to “see the trail” that is available online from Alyx and Evrything. It demonstrates an unembellished black shirt disclosed as “genuine” and monitors its life cycle from raw material acquisition to final sale.