OTB Group Embraces Blockchain for Authentication

OTB Group, the parent company of luxury fashion brands such as Maison Margiela and Jil Sander, announced on Wednesday that it is incorporating blockchain technology to offer digital authenticity certificates.

It was noted that issuing certificates for all products would commence with the Fall/Winter 2024/2025 collections. This action guarantees that all OTB’s prestige brands, which account for over 1.5 million products, receive blockchain registration and digital authentication.

OTB is a member of the Aura Blockchain Consortium, which provides prestige brands with blockchain-agnostic solutions. Mercedes-Benz, OTB Group, Prada Group, and Cartier founded the non-profit association in Switzerland to address the issues of communicating authenticity and sustainability through blockchain technology.

According to Stefano Rosso, CEO of the Marni brand and member of the Aura Blockchain Consortium board, the advancement allows brands to “ensure an increasingly high-profile experience, new ways of interaction, and greater transparency.”

“The prompt response to all the challenges and opportunities presented by future legislation is contingent upon the full-scale adoption of blockchain technology and its integration with our production processes.”

OTB Group Creates NFC Chips Enabled Fashion Brands

The announcement stated that the integration will facilitate the insertion of an NFC device into each garment and accessory. Clients can access the digital authenticity certificate via smartphones using these near-field communication (NFC) chip patches.

The certificate primarily contains information regarding the product’s origin, uniqueness, and quality.

In the past, OTB Group has utilized NFC devices. Over 1.2 million products got an NFC chip on the blockchain platform provided by Aura in 2022. A digital certificate of authenticity is a “huge problem solver,” according to Stefano Rosso, the chairman of Maison Margiela, in September.

Rosso stated to Style, “Concurrently, it facilitates the marketing of the product and the tracking of its origins.”

At the beginning of the year, Wrangler, a denim manufacturer, introduced NFC-chipped traceable jeans for the brand’s non-fungible token (NFT) bearers.