Neliana Fuenmayor
Blockchain and transparency in fashion
How do we navigate the complex world of fashion supply chains and brand marketing? How do we know who’s opinion to trust so we can feel confident we know #whomademyclothes?
Imagine if evidence rather than opinion gave the ability to trust. Not the evidence of a certificate or stamp of approval, but evidence provided by technology to track garments and their origin. Evidence that cannot be altered or bribed. I’m talking about blockchain for fashion.
Blockchain technology is one of the innovations that Neliana Fuenmayor founder A Transparent Company uses to support sustainability and ethical aims for fashion brands. Partnering with Provenance, designer Martine Jarlgaard and Fashion Innovation Agency, blockchain, QR codes (Quick Response Code) and NFC tags (Near-field communication) can be used in garments to give consumers access to data about the supply chain of each individual garment.
No longer do we need to take a brands word for the provenance of our garments, we can see for ourselves what they were made out of, where and by who.
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation A New Textiles Economy report is considered to be leading the way for the circular economy by presenting a positive new vision for the textiles and fashion industry to work together. A Transparent Company in partnership with Provenance features in A New Textiles Economy highlighting the potential of blockchain for fashion and also names them as a Circular Economy 100 member. This is hugely important to the company’s credibility and to be recognised as a thought leader, putting Neliana ahead of the curve.
In this podcast I speak to Neliana about: how innovation and technology has the power to change the fashion industry and how brands communicate, our shared love of a magical island, and how it’s all connected.
“Being transparent is about being honest, and being like we are not perfect, we are working on it, let us join together and find the solutions.”
Neliana Fuenmayor's key achievements:
MA Fashion Entrepreneurship & Innovation at LCF
Winner LCFxKering Award 2015 which awards a £10,000 prize and internship at Stella McCartney
A Transparent Company in partnership with Provenance has:
showcased the first garment tracked with blockchain technology at Copenhagen Fashion Summit ‘Solutions Lab’ 2017
been selected for Fashion For Good Plug and Play
included in Ellen MacArthur A New Textile Economy CE100 directory and mentioned in A New Textile Economy for use of blockchain for fashion
“This year I’ve seen how the fashion industry are understanding they need to be more open…in the technology world people share more to find solutions to common problems.”
portrait photo of neliana fuenmayor wearing martine jarlgaard blockchain jumper taken by bec o'conner for black neon digital
other imagery via a transparent company, provenance and martine jarlgaard
podcast recorded at kip hotel in east london
NOTES
Browns East and BeBox (mediation space) mentioned in podcast.
Blockchain technology is based on a distributed database not centrally owned by any one person. Any information added is stored in ‘blocks’ owned by a number of people. Theses blocks then form a chain of information to create a complete history for an item. Any attempt to change a block in retrospect will be detected by the system because the information would differ from that of all the other participants of that specific blockchain. This guarantees reliable data that is safe from fraudulent claims (see, e.g. http://www.goldmansachs.com/our-thinking/pages/blockchain)
Source: Ellen MacArthur Foundation
09.04.2018
