We would never expect to see Louis Vuitton and blockchain in the same sentence, but it’s 2019 and anything can happen.
Apparently, it is now a fact that LVMH, the fashion powerhouse, is working on its own blockchain application, which will facilitate the process of product authentication across its portfolio of brands.
Now this may sound weird, but is it really? In fact it’s not. After all, blockchain technology’s main premise is to authenticated transactions. Blockchain’s decentralized, distributed and public digital ledger that is used to record transactions across many computers so that any involved record cannot be altered retroactively, without the alteration of all subsequent blocks. Just like a data tree, once a node is changed, every node before and after must sync up to reflect the change in data.
Although blockchain technology is touted by some as “snake oil”, it looks like in this case LVMH found a very valid reason to make the most of it. LVMH and its flagship namesake brand has long been plagued by counterfeits, which have been hurting its bottom line, for many years now. The conglomerate is already working with Google as well as using AI in its combat against counterfeit products.
With its new blockchain initiative, called AURA, LVMH will provide “proof of authenticity of luxury items and trace their origins from raw materials to point of sale and beyond to used-goods markets”. The functionality will be build-in the group’s app and will first become available for two labels: Louis Vuitton and Dior Parfums.
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