PARIS — Aura Blockchain Consortium has crossed the 50 million mark, hitting a milestone with that many luxury products now registered with the technology.
The Switzerland-based group now encompasses 50 members, from the founding five in 2022 which included LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, Diesel parent company OTB Group, Prada Group, Richemont’s Cartier and Mercedes-Benz.
The 50 million number comes just three months after the consortium registered 40 million products on its private blockchain.
“This is showing a great acceleration of the brands joining, but also implementing and preparing the information that is going to be put on the [digital product passports],” Aura Blockchain Consortium chief executive officer Romain Carrere.
Digital product passports, or DPPs, connect a physical product to a digital record that can house product information and sourcing through the supply chain for a deep dive on traceability. They are one of the requirements of the European Union’s upcoming Ecodesign for Sustainable Product Regulation, which will start rolling out next year for apparel and textiles.
Brands are adapting quickly to the new technology, which can trace product through resale and repair, as well as authenticate and combat counterfeiting.
“If we look at groups like OTB, they have announced that starting with their fall collection, they will put all of their products on the blockchain,” Carrere said.
Other brands will also add a certificate of authenticity for their garments and accessories, including Jil Sander, Maison Margiela and Marni with their fall 2024 collections equipped with the technology.
“This shows we are growing, and we are working with many other brands that we haven’t announced yet,” he added.
The blockchain can include both upstream, meaning production and sourcing info, and downstream, meaning loyalty programs or insurance tied to an object, as well as repair and resale.
Carrere highlighted that because the consortium was founded by brands and has a nonprofit status, it is being built to fit their needs and can adapt to various brands, from jewelry and hard luxury to automobiles.
“A strong point is that since we were created by brands for brands, we have the information they share, the information of what they need, so we are able to build the technology that represents their needs.”
LVMH’s Franck Le Moal; Prada Group’s Lorenzo Bertelli; Cartier’s Angela Au-Yeung; Aura’s Romain Carrere; Mercedes-Benz’s Carolin Strauss, director of strategy at Mercedes-Benz, and OTB Group’s Stefano Rosso.
Liese Barbeau Cochet
The tech standards that Aura’s blockchain is creating are establishing a framework and technological standard that will help brands adapt to DPP needs.
The blockchain’s private and closed network will also support the privacy concerns of luxury brands. The consortium’s technology can be used across brands but is not proprietary to any one brand. Its tech will enable member brands to prepare for the sustainability-focused requirements of the European Union.
“That was a real need from the luxury brands, that we are really focusing on the longevity of the product data, and also the fact that we are independent and we can never be bought out,” he added.
Carrere added that Aura is growing its Geneva-based team to accommodate the additional brands that are joining the consortium as more get up to speed ahead of the DPP rollout in Europe.
