LVMH has joined forces with two other major luxury names –Prada and Cartier, part of Richemont – to develop Aura Blockchain Consortium, the world’s first global luxury blockchain. Unveiled on 20 April 2021, this unprecedented collaboration between competitors represents a single, innovative solution to shared challenges of communicating information on authenticity, responsible sourcing and sustainability in a secure, digital format. The objective is to provide consumers with a high level of transparency and traceability throughout the lifecycle of a product.
The state-of-the-art = technology of Aura Blockchain matches a product ID to a client ID, providing the infrastructure – through a chain of secure, non-reproducible, digital blocks – to enable consumers to access the history of a product and proof of its authenticity at every step of the value chain, from raw materials to point of sale, and even more. Consumers can thus follow the entire lifecycle of a product with trusted data throughout, and with no need for third-party verification. Aura represents a new way for luxury brands to communicate directly to consumers, telling a unique story around the quality of their materials, craftsmanship and creativity, and strengthening the relationship between client and brand.
Given that issues such as traceability, sustainability and authenticity are common to all luxury brands, it made sense for these competitors to work together to drive change and develop a shared solution. LVMH thus joined forces with Prada and Richemont to design Aura Blockchain Consortium, a multi-nodal, private blockchain secured by ConsenSys technology and Microsoft. Aura is open to all luxury brands, not just the founders, and offers flexibility to support companies of varying sizes and adapt to individual needs.
Among LVMH Maisons, Hublot, Bvlgari and Louis Vuitton are already active on the platform. Hublot, for example, has launched a digital e-warranty, which is stored in the Aura infrastructure and allows customers to verify the authenticity of their watch via a simple photo taken with a mobile phone. Brands using Aura develop their own experience according to their specificities and customer expectations. They also maintain their own data and adhere to the strictest standards of client privacy, with information stored on the blockchain in a way that cannot be changed, tampered with, or hacked.
LVMH Managing Director Toni Belloni comments: “The Aura Blockchain Consortium is a great opportunity for our sector to strengthen our connection with customers by offering them simple solutions to get to know our products better. By joining forces with other luxury brands on this project, we are leading the way on transparency and traceability. I hope other prestigious players will join our alliance.”
