TECH TALK
Building Blocks of
Progressive Apparel
In an industry that is currently facing an extreme dearth of uniformity and transparency,
Samir Alam demonstrates how blockchain technology can play aid.
Over the last decade, blockchain technology has
become increasingly common in the news and
businesses. From a form of digital currency to a
type of network security, blockchain has become
the rallying cry for a number of industries.
However, for the longest time, this has not made
much of an impact on the apparel sphere.
Imagine a tool that could allow companies and
customers to easily (and cost-effectively) track
any garment at every stage of its lifecycle—from
the fields where the material is grown to its final
point of purchase. Or imagine a marketplace
where consumers could just use their smart
devices to check a piece of clothing to know its
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entire journey, and to understand whether it is
sustainable and complies with labour laws. With
blockchain technology, this can be a reality.
The impact that this kind of transparency and
traceability could have is immense as it would
put sustainable production policies into action,
and even play a major role in easing tariff and
duty issues between nations. This technology
would put power and choice in the hands of
the customer like never before. In this article,
we explore what blockchain technology actually
means in practice, and how apparel brands
can leverage its potential to transform how they
conduct business.