YNAP pilots digital ID tech to boost circularity

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Dec 16, 2020

Yoox Net-A-Porter is running two pilot Digital ID technology programmes ahead of a rollout across all of its private-label collections from next year. The online luxury retailer, which is owned by Richemont, said the move will accelerate circularity in luxury and fashion.

The two current pilots are running across select items from the latest Mr P collection for Mr Porter and the entire collection recently launched by the firm for The Prince’s Foundation. 

Customers shopping products included within the pilots can scan QR codes for each garment to access unique information, content and services. This includes “provenance and design information, care instructions that ensure the pieces can be treasured for years to come, and inspiration to help customers style the items in their wardrobes over many seasons”.

As of next year, YNAP will work with Eon and leverage its CircularID Protocol to “continue to develop the proposition, tailoring QR codes into each private label garment allowing customers to access the item’s unique Digital ID”.

Those unique IDs are essentially “virtual certificates that can be used to record each item’s history – telling its story from manufacture through use, resale, reuse and recycling”.

YNAP said that over time, the "build of a connected and trusted ecosystem of authenticated products will enable the group to offer new services to its customers, such as virtual wardrobe management, and re-commerce and recycling to allow garments that may fade to start a new beginning and form part of a circular fashion system”.

It’s an ambitious move on the part of the retailer and reflects consumers' interest in sustainability, their desire to know as much as possible about the origin of the goods they buy, and the fact that so much more is possible with modern technology.

Giorgia Roversi, YNAP’s Director of Sustainability & Inclusion, said: “Today, when we buy a garment, it is often challenging to reliably keep track of where it was made, what it is made of, and its authenticity. This can make it difficult to care properly for garments over the long term, to resell them, and even to recycle them. We believe that digital passports for the garments in our wardrobe can help to overcome these challenges. 

“And as our Digital ID ecosystem develops, important moments such as repair or resale can be digitally stamped in the passport, opening doors for the garment to start a new beginning with another owner or to be recycled correctly, helping us to shift mindsets when it comes to longevity and circularity in luxury and fashion.”

The new initiative is the latest development coming out of the company’s Infinity sustainability strategy that it launched last month.

And the plan is that it won't stop with private label products as once it’s established with its own brands, the company aims to share what it has learnt with its brand partners.