See how virtual clothing can help solve the problem of fashion waste

The ephemeral nature of fashion can seem like an odd companion for blockchain. But the industry is finding ways to leverage this and other digital tools to reduce waste and propel fashion into the future.

the italian company Lablaco is working with fashion houses and brands to digitize their collections in the growing “phygital” fashion market – where customers purchase a physical fashion item and its digital “twin”, designed to be collected or worn by avatars in virtual environments like the metaverse.

Lablaco was founded in 2016 by Lorenzo Albrighi and Eliana Kuo. Both had a background in luxury fashion, but were looking to improve the industry’s sustainability credentials and promote circular fashion – the practice of designing and producing clothing to reduce waste.

The pair launched the Circular Fashion Summit in 2019, and Lablaco worked with retailer H&M to introduce a blockchain-based clothing rental service in 2021.

Pushing fashion into digital spaces helps generate data that is vital in efforts to move towards circular fashion, they argue.

With Lablaco’s model, physical and digital items remain paired even after sale, so if a physical item is resold, the digital equivalent is transferred to the new owner’s digital wallet.

The transparency of blockchain technology means the new owner can be assured of its authenticity and the item’s creator can follow its post-sale journey.

“If you don’t scan the product itself, you can’t have data to measure and you won’t know what the impact is on fashion,” Albrighi told CNN Business.

waste cutting

The textile and fashion industry generates an estimated 92 million tonnes of waste annually, and digital fashion can play an important role in reducing that number.

Kuo says digital spaces can be used as a testbed for the physical world. For example, a designer could release a digital clothing item in 10 colors in the metaverse and use sales data to inform which colors to use for the real-world version.

“It automatically becomes an on-demand model, which can really reduce fashion waste,” she says.

Trying on virtual clothes can also reduce the amount of clothing returned in the physical world, says Albrighi. He adds that holding fashion shows in virtual spaces reduces the fashion world’s need for travel. Both interventions have the potential to reduce the industry’s carbon footprint.

But for these innovations to spread, Albrighi says encouraging designers is key. With the phygital model, blockchain transparency can allow brands to receive royalties when an item is resold throughout its lifespan – a way to “produce less and actually earn more”.

“It’s the start of a new industry,” he says.