Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior Join Blockchain Platform For Tracking Luxury Goods

By Prashant Jha

Recently, it has been reported that ConsenSys has partnered with Microsoft and LVMH to create a blockchain-based system that lets end users verify whether the luxury goods they are paying for are 100% authentic. This platform will make use of the benefits of blockchain in supply chain management, tracing and tracking and let consumers make sure they are getting their money’s worth.

The consortium of companies that have taken this initiative have named this platform Aura and has stated that it has been fashioned to “serve the entire luxury industry with powerful product tracking and tracing services.”

Major brands of LVMH, such as top fashion houses Christian Dior and Louis Vuitton have already come on board to work on this platform and several other LVMH brands are also having discussions about possibly joining the platform soon.

The news release talks about why this solution was introduced and elaborates:

“The luxury goods industry involves many specialized actors — design, raw materials, manufacturing, and distribution. LVMH products have a unique story to tell throughout the product life cycle that can now be revealed through the use of blockchain technology. During production, each product is recorded on the shared ledger, irreproducible and containing unique information. At the time of purchase, a consumer can use the brand’s application to receive the AURA certificate containing all product information. Decentralized and immutable, blockchain technology provides transparency and a single source of truth for the consumer: it ensures the authenticity of the product, provides details on product origin and components (including ethical and environmental information), instructions for product care, and the after-sales and warranty services available.”

The technology of this blockchain platform will be able to help users access the product history and proof that it is authentic for all luxury goods they purchase from brands onboarded. The users will even be able to go to the official website of the said brand and then procure a certificate assuring them of their authenticity.

Aura is indeed an interesting innovation as far as luxury good tracking is concerned and it is likely to be more useful as more and more companies start to use it.