Fashion is as old as time. In the modern age, fashion has undergone several disruptions, but the development continues. The rise of blockchains has created a scope for improving many facets of fashion. The art of trade and management in the fashion scene is open to the disruption of blockchains.
Perhaps the control of intellectual property is what stands out as an impending challenge in the fashion industry. In simple terms, this can be described as the right to certain designs. Knowing how this works with blockchain networking can mean a world of difference.
Fashion Meets the Blockchain
The characteristics of the blockchain are recognizable and in many respects represent an innovative approach to life. Starting with the immutability of its records, any entry captured by the blockchain cannot be deleted. Not even clandestine methods can sabotage this praiseworthy feature, which has received worldwide acclaim.
In addition, blockchain technology enables secure access to information and data. Everything in the chain can be accessed anywhere in the world and even in real-time. It is therefore easy to see when an entry or data was logged for the first time. This eliminates the guesswork about when it is time to prove ownership of an idea or trademark.
It is also worth mentioning that the timestamp element, which can be seen in the blockchain, can be an important decision-making aid at any time. In many facets of life, disputes and disagreements arise about who gets the first mention. This is one area where a global identification system can be effectively used when blockchain capabilities are involved.
In the area of transaction processing, the increase in intelligent contracts makes it easy to provide a global basis for evaluation. In this sense, if an e-commerce cart is available, transactions can be paid for on the blockchain. As far as means of payment are concerned, the growing acceptance of cryptography enables transactions to be carried out on the blockchain. A network such as bitcoin lightning network already facilitates processing times for bitcoin, which improves the acceptance of crypto.
So there is credible evidence that investing in block chain technology is a huge benefit for the fashion industry. So far there are many gaps in the industry that still require solutions. What about solving the problem of supply chain deficiencies? How can it be ensured that customers do not have payment problems because of where they live? You may also want to consider disputes over trademark ownership. All this needs to be looked at more closely.
The Challenges of Fashion Industry
The fashion industry offers one of the shortest routes to fame and fortune in our world. Despite this fact, it has its own share of challenges. Let us examine them a little more closely in this discourse.
1. Supply chain problems
It is undisputed that supply chain management is an area that presents a major challenge in the fashion world. This is not because there is a lack of understanding of this challenge. What is clear is that there is a capacity problem when it comes to designing solutions. When demand for a particular product skyrockets, you often find that many people are unable to buy it because of supply shortages.
So at what point is it announced that a product requires X number of deliveries? What can be done to track or anticipate demand? All these questions require the development of a tracking model that can be easily checked and updated. When AI and blockchain are merged, the taste and preferences of users on the blockchain can be monitored. In this way, supply limits, delivery thresholds, and stock replenishment alerts can be set.
By using blockchain technology in this regard, companies can predict the quantity to be produced and the time of delivery. This will lead to increased customer satisfaction and better sales for retail chains around the world.
2. An eye on design rights
Every designer should be able to earn a due reward for intellectual property. Nowadays it is easy for a design to go online and be seen all over the world in a few minutes. Sometimes a design is easily replicated all over the world, which is a big loss for the initiator. The blockchain can provide a simple answer to this problem.
The question of collecting and transferring royalties also follows the same path on the blockchain. Smart contracts can be made available online to the source of the legal agreement. In this way, anyone who needs a right of use can do so without hindrance. Rights of use can be easily approved and the transfer can be settled with smart contract tracking.
Thus, any design can be saved or made available online, with its hash indicating a legal agreement or restriction. In this way, it will be easy to bring to justice anyone who violates it. It also provides a way to identify the design source and assign a contact point. While this would not completely eliminate the work of counterfeiters, it does at least make it easy to identify a right.
3. A tab on claims
One area that cannot be ignored is the assertion of claims relating to fashion products. Sometimes the claims that arise from this can come from counterfeit products and this can be difficult to prove. With the blockchain, each batch of products is easy to track and shipments can be monitored. With barcodes on the product label, near-field identification makes it easy to determine if the product is genuine. The codes can be compared with the delivered batch for the region.
In this way, any deviation from the known delivery codes makes it possible to determine whether the product is a counterfeit or imitation. This protection can work both ways. The supplier can easily pursue real claims against his deliveries. The user can also determine whether counterfeit products are present in a particular sales outlet. The ease of block chain technology makes this data publicly available.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that blockchains offer several solutions that can put the fashion industry in a good position. However, it should not be forgotten that the data fed into the blockchain has human input, and this is a potential loophole. The same applies to the monitoring of results and exceptions. If the human side of the blockchain implementation is not optimal, it can still be less efficient.
Some people also point to the potential impact of the consensus mechanism used in each blockchain. Can the consensus be compromised? At present, there are possible safeguards against collusion, but there is still room for concern.
Despite the possible limitations of block chains, what exists so far shows that block chain solutions offer many advantages. The fashion world can be better with the introduction of block chain applications and technology.
Author Bio: Stevan Mcgrath, is a Bitcoin and cryptocurrency enthusiast, passionate about the potential these tools and blockchain technology bring to the world and writes consistently for CoinReview. He has been following development of blockchain for several years. To know his work and more details you can follow him on Twitter, Linkedin.
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