Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) can disrupt the trillion-dollar fashion industry, but NFTs are just one part of a much larger puzzle that is revolutionizing the industry. Instead, blockchain technology as a whole continues to change the rules of the game in the fashion industry.
While blockchain-based supply chains were some of the first uses of technology to help detect fraud, digital wearables built on blockchain networks will now begin to be built. Megan Kaspar, co-founder and CEO of Magnetic, an investment and custodian company for cryptocurrency and blockchain, told Cointelegraph that digital fashion is a very powerful tool for blockchain technology. However, she notes that many brands still do not realize the value that blockchain can provide when it comes to creating new business models.
The rise and impact of digital fashion
To explain the enormous possibilities that blockchain can offer to the modern fashion world, Kaspar noted that in the near future, all brands will basically go digital:
«Here, the collections are first created digitally, either internally or with the help of a company. The first digital process reduces the time, energy and capital that are no longer required to preview collections before production. The digital collection can then be overlaid with images from digital stitching. ”
To put this in perspective, Kaspar recently appeared on the cover of the January issue of Haute Living. It was unique in that it was the first American fashion magazine cover to have luxurious digital clothing on one person. In addition, the Haute Living cover has QR codes that generate augmented reality functionality, so readers can scan the barcodes to see how special each digital item can look. Designs made by Fendi and digitized by DressX can then be purchased directly from the Fendi website.
Megan Kaspar on the cover of Haute Living in January 2022 wearing a digital Fendi dress. Source: High Life
While innovative from a marketing standpoint, digital fashion also has other benefits. For example, Adrienne Forote, fashion director at Haute Living, noted in her feature film that “the days of delivering over 20 boxes of clothes around the world” are over. This is an important point to keep in mind, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a number of supply chain problems that delayed the delivery of containers around the world.
It is also important to note that a blockchain network is not necessary when it comes to first digital prototypes. DressX co-founder Daria Shapovalova told the Cointelegraph that although the Fendi clothes Kaspar has on the front of Haute Living are fully digital clothes, they are not NFTs:
“With this first US digital envelope, we aimed to promote digital fashion to the general public by making Fendi AR experiences accessible to all – for free. On the other hand, launching products like NFTs means that digital and augmented reality resources only will be owned by NFT holders, which will greatly limit the audience’s ability to interact with digital clothing. ”
According to Shapovalova, while NFTs can open up many opportunities for the digital fashion industry, such as a sense of belonging and a scarcity effect, that is not what DressX intended to achieve with this particular campaign. Kamal Khochandani, COO of Haute Media Group, added that the Haute Living cover shows how core publishing features move into the digital landscape with the use of purchaseable editorials and augmented reality (AR) capabilities.
But when the power of blockchain is applied to this mix, the benefits are much greater. For example, blockchain technology Web3 allows e-commerce between digital and physical goods.
Justin Bannon, co-founder of Boson Protocol – a decentralized trading platform – told Cointelegraph that the company has developed a basic Web3 base layer that allows smart contracts to execute e-commerce transactions in metaverse virtual environments. Given the opportunities offered by smart contracts on Boson blockchain networks, Banon said that the trust issues that can arise when setting up a metaverse can be solved:
“For example, if a person goes into the metaverse and finds another avatar who sold a car, one can wonder how secure this transaction is. The Boson protocol acts as a layer of trust between the metaverse and the universe, allowing cryptographic game theory to NFTs are traded, which can then be exchanged for real-world items. ”
