A London fashion designer has collaborated with the Blockchain startup Provenance to give much-needed transparency to the consumer fashion industry.
Martine Jarlgaard has created a digital token for every item of clothing she creates, allowing full details of its history from before creation to the point of sale to be visible to the customer.
“Technology will be what helps to reconnect us to the people and the places involved, and that information will increase consumer expectations, which will put more pressure on the big companies,” she told Forbes in an interview this week.
A trial of the scheme is currently ongoing at the Copenhagen Fashion Summit attached to a specific collection from Jarlgaard. Consumers are able to scan a QR code or NFC-enabled label in order to track the history of a certain item using Provenance.
In so doing, the aim is to rekindle a wearer’s relationship with clothing beyond basic information such as country of origin and component materials.
In a similar way to how Blockchain is improving transparency and awareness markets such as coffee, workers involved in the fashion chain also stand to benefit from the technology’s immutable characteristics.
“What we’re looking to create is a new protocol and standard for giving consumers confidence in what they’re buying,” London College of Fashion Innovation Agency head Matthew Drinkwater added.
“The fact that this is Blockchain verified, will mean it’s a product that they can believe in.”
According to recent data, over a third of garments purchased find their way into landfill sites or are otherwise disposed of within just one year.