It sounds like a Silicon Valley fever dream, but it’s true: fashion brands are getting into blockchain. And not in the “NFT metaverse Gucci bag” kind of way (thank god we’re past that- because idk who was getting conned into paying designer prices for digital products... Literally had us moving like club penguin). I mean actual backend supply chain stuff: product tracking, digital certificates, materials databases. Quiet, technical, supposedly transparent.
From high street players like COS to luxury conglomerates like LVMH, brands are now using blockchain to log each stage of a garment’s journey: where the raw materials came from, when it was dyed, how it was sewn, shipped, sold. All in theory, of course. On paper it sounds like a massive leap for sustainability, finally, a way to track fashion in real time without relying on half-hearted annual reports and dodgy factory tours.
But here’s the question no one’s really answering: should we actually care?
Because while blockchain sounds impressive, most people still have no clue what it is. Tech guys will tell you it’s an “immutable ledger” (cool story) but what that means in fashion terms is this: every step in a product’s supply chain gets logged digitally, and once it’s there, it can’t be changed or deleted. Which should make things more transparent... in theory.
In practice? It depends entirely on what you’re feeding into the system. If a brand lies about where a fabric came from, and that lie gets logged on the blockchain, congratulations, now the lie is just permanently recorded. Transparency tech only works if the original data is legit. Otherwise, we’re just greenwashing... with receipts. It's almost like we need an external auditor to ensure the information is correct.. Like a HMRC for fashion.
Still, blockchain has potential. Some small brands are using it to build trust without big budgets, like assigning QR codes to each item so you can scan and see the materials, production steps, and even worker info. A couple of indie upcyclers are testing it to track garment transformations, so when you remix a jacket, the next owner can see its previous lives. That’s cool. That’s storytelling with tech.
But the reality is: most of us aren’t using blockchain, we’re just being sold it. Brands are slapping “blockchain-verified” onto swing tags like it means something, even when the product is still made from plastic, flown across continents, and sold for £8. Transparency doesn’t fix exploitation. It just shows you where it happened.
So should emerging creatives care? Yeah, a bit. Not because blockchain is a silver bullet (because it’s really not), but because it signals a shift. Fashion is moving into an era where storytelling will be backed by data. That could benefit small brands, if you’re already being ethical, having a traceable system could prove it without needing a PR budget. And as policies tighten (hello, EU Digital Product Passport laws), these systems might stop being optional.
But here’s the thing: don’t let tech define your values. You don’t need a blockchain startup to be transparent. You need honesty, consistency, and a system that reflects what you care about. If you’re working with waste, tell that story. If you’re sourcing secondhand, map that journey.
Tech can support your ethics but it shouldn’t replace them. And real transparency still starts with people. Not code.