Imagine scanning the tag on your favorite brand’s T-shirt and finding out that it is made from toxic materials and the brand supports unethical labor practices, will you still buy that?
As a responsible citizen, you shouldn’t.
Blockchain can bring your imagination to reality to make your purchasing more responsible than before.
It has the potential to make the fashion industry more sustainable and ethical. And hopefully, it will remove the tag from the fashion industry of being the 2nd largest waste generator on earth.
First of all, we have to know what a blockchain is.
“Blockchain is an immutable database mechanism that holds records that are securely linked together“.
By using blockchain technology the fashion industry can be more transparent, traceable, and sustainable throughout the supply chain.
In blockchain, both brands and consumers confirm the authenticity of products, ensure ethical sourcing and labor practices, prevent counterfeiting, empower consumer decision-making, and heighten brand image.
Let’s dig into the details!
- Ensuring your sustainable consumption :
Nowadays most consumers are concerned about the environment so they are becoming more and more responsible purchasers of the environment.
So, the brands are leaning towards making fashion products with eco-friendly materials and ensuring the material purchasing from manufacturers by blockchain technology which is implanted with ERP systems.
Consumers can also verify their eco-friendly purchase by scanning labels through their phones.
- Supporting Ethical Labor Practices :
Some brands and manufacturers have been accused of not paying enough to their workers, forced to overwork, and not providing safety.
In the blockchain mechanism, these brands and manufacturers cannot hide their unethical labor practices and consumers have the power to boycott them.
As blockchain is augmented with ERP systems workers have the power to put their authentic data-related factors mentioned above and consumers can easily check if the workers are paid enough or not.
This system helps brands to practice ethical labor law and create a healthy workplace.
- Trace the product life cycle :
Consumers can easily trace where the product ends up, if it is made from eco-friendly products, it must biodegrade otherwise end up in a landfill.
This is known as the blockchain of traceability.
- Empower consumer decision-making :
Consumers can trace everything related to a product, and if they find anything inappropriate, they can simply not choose to purchase as he has other ethical options to shop.
Here, the blockchain system gives consumers the power to choose.
- Updated Inventory Management :
Right after the purchase, all the information related to the product will be updated in the blockchain system where from brand to consumer can know who owns the product now, how much money is spent on it, where it is purchased, etc.
Sometimes the exchange system breaks down when authentic information isn’t given properly by consumers to brand authority.
However, in the blockchain system, scanning through the care label attached to the product will let them know if the product is exchangeable or not.
- Promoting Circular Fashion :
As the brand holds the consumers’ information in the blockchain system, they can piece information on how to let their product be a part of circular fashion and break the stigma of circular fashion, especially slow fashion.
- Royalty Tracking :
If a particular product design is patented by a designer, they will get a royalty for every purchase that consumers make on that particular product.
It won’t be possible by a traditional tracking system but in blockchain, if royalty blocks are linked up with purchasing blocks, then the designer will have the track of every royalty they get from consumer purchases.
- Always Ensure ownership of both non-digital and digital Clothing :
In the blockchain system, there is no chance of stealing someone’s patent style or clothing. That means another brand cannot steal the designs of the small creator without their permission.
Blockchain will make the fashion industry as transparent as crystal so that all the professional people related to this industry will always be in an ethical position and always get their actual rights for making a consumer-centric supply chain.
Now there are only a few brands that own blockchain systems in their supply chain. They are Alexander McQueen, H&M, Adidas, LVMH and Nike.
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Writer
Adri Sen
Intern, Content Writing Department,
YSSE