HONG KONG – Technological solutions provider TextileGenesis has partnered with Lenzing, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Asian apparel brand Chicks to demonstrate the fluency with which online transactions can be made using blockchain technology in the textile supply chain.
In what TextileGenesis says is an industry first, the company’s online platform – a distributed ledger, immune to alteration – has accommodated a completely traceable product transaction. This, after Lenzing issued Tencel Modal fibercoins (digital tokens) to Chicks, in direct relation to the shipment of physical goods. These tokens – not to be mistaken as a form of crypto-currency – serve as an authentication mechanism and provides digital chain-of-custody across the supply chain, enabling operatives at all levels of the value chain to log data.
“Clothing accounts for 15 per cent of Hong Kong’s Ecological Footprint. The blockchain distributed ledger technology presents a significant opportunity for fashion brands to improve traceability and communicate with consumers about the socio-environmental impacts in every process along the supply chain – from raw materials in the ecosystem to finished garments – and empower sustainable consumption,” WWF Hong Kong’s Karen Ho, head of corporate and community sustainability, told Ecotextile News.
