Innovative blockchain technology creates new opportunities for the high-end fashion industry

Traditionally, the luxury fashion industry has been associated with high level status. Predict a return to pre-pandemic status with competitive pricing driven by limited distribution and celebrity endorsements. Overall, luxury clothing and accessories market segmentation has apparently carved out a niche by focusing on a consumer leaning towards the luxury product and developing market segmentation around it.

According to Statista, in 2021, the luxury The global fashion industry is currently estimated at around $ 107.9 billion. This strong market segmentation made it possible to achieve these promising figures during the year of the pandemic. More importantly, the market segmentation has an expected annual growth of 4.8% (CAGR 2021-2025).

While all of this looks promising, the luxury fashion industry faces major political challenges. Counterfeiting is one of the most important. An abundant number of brands within the portfolios of multinationals specializing in luxury such as LVMH and Kering, based in France; which aim to maintain both accessibility and exclusivity in a highly competitive market. In 2020, Chairman and CEO of Kering François-Henri Pinault reported that the group’s turnover reached 13.1 billion euros, or about 15.49 billion US dollars.

Face it, big brands go to great lengths to preserve exclusivity and fight counterfeiting, including the burning of products worth billions of dollars. However, burning excess products to maintain exclusivity is not suitable for consumers. And there is no slack. Concrete example; a consumer boycott campaign against luxury fashion house Burberry, headquartered in London, England – after news of the practice of burning became public. In short, it is a prudent business world. And rightly so. Nowadays, the interconnectivity between brands and customers has given rise to the voice of the people. In a nutshell, the boycott forced Burberry to end the practice of burning its surplus products, but unfortunately the damage had already been done with regard to consumer disgust by then.

Along with the uprooting of so many long-held traditions in the post-pandemic period, a growing number of fashion brands have started to abandon standard business practices spurred by the awakened awareness of the benefits of blockchain technology. I recently attended a remote forum hosted by experts on opportunities for luxury fashion and beauty brands in New York City. Institute of Fashion Technology. Right now, winning brands are providing an internal lead on this direct technology and identifying a defined market strategy that triggers a call to arms.

Using blockchain technology is NFT Brian Foote – Founder and CEO of HUMBL – Along with a new product line called Origin Assurance ™, targets some of the challenges that could hamper the expected growth of the global fashion industry.

HUMBL Marketplace recently partnered with Hollywood celebrity photographer Smallz + Raskind to tokenize and catalog exclusive blockchain prints, ensuring customers receive a Certificate of Authenticity and a digital signature QR code to follow the cycle. life of any product.

Nowadays, it is increasingly important for retailers and consumers to ensure the accessibility of luxury fashion through blockchain. When it comes to millennials and millennials, they often feel left out of the luxury shopping experience. At this point, most market groups are well aware that this age group has always preferred experience to acquiring property. Guess I’m lecturing now, but technology is the proven way to capture this booming market sector.

“Tokenizing luxury fashion on the blockchain will create exciting opportunities for the high-end fashion industry and attract the young market”, Brian said. “HUMBL Studios is where the tokenization of luxury fashion items, NFT’s physical and esoteric assets will take place on the blockchain.

It is essential that luxury fashion shoppers find what they are looking for under one roof, and a marketplace that makes the shopping experience seamless is key.

“In fashion, accessibility is essential for luxury brands to remain relevant. Smart luxury brands will leverage blockchain-backed Web 3 to become accessible in the primary and secondary resale markets, especially in luxury brands where the collection lifecycle is longer. Said Foote.

Unlike the past, high-end luxury fashion consumers are no longer limited to the in-store shopping experience, as technology now brings the busiest experience of sought-after wealthy people straight to their homes and offices, and even on their palms. VR technology captures the right physical form and the right measure, while blockchain maintains a record for repeat shopping experience.

It’s even more common today, as physical stores remain closed due to the pandemic. Max Krupyshev, CEO of CoinsPaid, the crypto payment processing gateway also echoes the same views. His company has seen increased integration of luxury brands since the start of the pandemic. “With blockchain technology and the acceptance of crypto as a means of payment, more luxury brands can reach a wider circle of customers and especially millennials, who are the biggest fans of digital assets,” Krupyshev said.

According to a Harvard Business Review report, the global counterfeit trade costs manufacturers $ 4.5 trillion, with the luxury goods market accounting for 60 to 70 percent of that figure. Another report by the World Trademark Review put the losses caused by counterfeit luxury goods in 18 US states at $ 12 billion per year.

Asked about the importance of implementing Blockchain technology in today’s luxury industry Luca Spano Director at IFG Men’s Fashion had to say this. “This is already a very important piece for many companies and it is a must for all of us to implement sooner rather than later, Covid has taken our industry 10 years forward and made us understand what technology can do to keep the economy moving and be strong. Marketing needs to think ahead and make blockchain implementation one of its top priorities ”

The creation of tokens on Blockchain makes it possible to attribute to precious luxury goods such as bags, sneakers or luxury watches a unique and immutable identity. The identity of the product is recorded in the blockchain ledger and is traceable until it reaches the end consumer. More specifically, consumers are increasingly concerned with living the culture of a brand by knowing its production journey from start to finish. This uses technology to eliminate the need for an unnecessary and environmentally harmful procedure to combat counterfeiting in a high-end way.

Rafael Papismedov, Managing Partner and Director of Strategy at HB Antwerp:“Innovative blockchain technology allows HB Antwerp to track and trace the entire process from mine to finger. This is crucial for today’s luxury consumers who are on average much younger than five years ago and are more often female. Millennials and certainly Gen Z are generally more confident and knowledgeable about the world than previous generations. They demand answers to their questions and attach importance to fair trade. They want to know under what circumstances the products were made, what their ecological impact was, the working conditions in which they were produced, and they want to know about all consumer goods … whether it is chocolate. or diamonds.

We use blockchain technology and data visualization techniques to monitor and map all stages of the process, from mine to jewelry. We have created an ecosystem called Signum, in which participating partners exchange information with each other, both on the mining side and on the jeweler side. Thanks to this Signum ecosystem, the jewelers working with HB Antwerp are today the only ones who can tell their consumers exactly where their Signum diamond came from, how it was mined, when it was found.

Right now, I think luxury fashion shouldn’t be limited to the traditional ideals it started with. By maintaining exclusivity and ensuring the fight against counterfeiting, technology remains the best way to solve most of today’s luxury fashion challenges.