If you think the fascinating applications of Blockchain are limited to the fintech industry only, this piece of news will surely change your mind. Iconic fashion house Alexander McQueen is now using Blockchain to maintain authenticity of goods while giving rise to a new crop of “Web 3.0” brands. This refreshing endeavour heralds the beginning of a new era, one that will be powered by people rather than products.
On September 3, Alexander McQueen launched a new technology-driven label called MCQ: A Blockchain-backed platform enables both designers and consumers to securely register and trade clothing. Interestingly, the MCQ label is not controlled by a cluster of designers, but rather each piece of clothing comes from a group of budding creatives, fostering community spirit amongst professionals with similar aesthetic sensibilities.
Blockchain meets Fashion
MCQ has much more to offer than just being a regular fashion label dominating the apparel business. With all stakeholders including brand, participants, collaborators, correspondents, and collectors being able to engage with each other on the Blockchain-based digital platform MYMCQ, the focus is on designing a streamlined customer experience by integrating quality technological support.
Blockchain startup Everledger has partnered with MCQ to help ensure that the platform records each piece of clothing listed for purchase with acute precision. MYMCQ runs on a customized version of Hyperledger that the firm has developed, based on its track record of provenance and traceability solutions across many industries.
How does it work?
Consumers, also known as ‘collectors’ on the platform, are able to register each MCQ item bought under their own digital collection. Each MCQ clothing piece will be assigned a unique identity that’s recorded on the Blockchain. Once a secure and permanent digital record of each item is recorded, consumers are able to see the clothing’s lifecycle, including but not limited to a wide range of relevant details such as when and where the piece was designed, and which collection it is a part of. This will also enable customers have full cognizance about the resale history of all purchases they make from the fashion house, thereby solving the issue of fake designer items.
Web 3.0: A remarkable techno-social revolution in the 21st century, aspires to give netizens a greater degree of agency through more decentralized, transparent and privacy-preserving protocols such as Blockchain. The idea is to encourage sharing and distribution of content and create values to enrich the industry, without targeting people as products.
