Fashion brand turns to crypto tokens to fight fakes

US fashion house Tiffany Brown Design (TBD) has launched a cryptocurrency platform in an attempt to protect its brand from online sales of counterfeits.

The TBD token – which sits on top of a private blockchain platform – can be used to authenticate clothing and tackle what the company says is a forgery “crisis”, connecting  TBD designers directly to the end consumer, and can also be used as a payment system (based on the cryptocurrency Ethereum) as well as to access promotions and claim rewards.

“Shopping online is becoming the new normal, however it can become risky business having to sift through the websites to find the authentic brand,” says TBD, which claims it is the first designer to offer this kind of platform. Customers will be given tokens as a form of cashback for purchases but will also be purchasable on the open market.

The aim is to develop an ecosystem that “prevents forged high-end items being spread and sold in the online and physical world,” says TBD, and also provides protection for the resale market. If a purchaser wants to sell on an item the TBD can be used to prove that it is genuine.

The platform includes a decentralised app that TBD to upload encrypted product information that “can only be seen by our manufacturer and the end consumer who bought the item [and] which can be checked by a unique QR code on the product.”

During a recent press conference, the company spokesperson for the fashion house was quoted as saying: “Tiffany Brown wants to compete with quality authentic clothing. Our usage of blockchain will be used to validate the authenticity of our clothing, supply chain and with our reward program.”

She went on to say: “Our reward program will be used with the introduction of our token, Tiffany Brown Design Token. Token-holders will have the option of selling their TBD Token on the exchange for a profit or holding it to use within the ecosystem.”

TBD was set up in 2008 and opened its first retail store two years later and has been growing quickly since then, with plans to expand from womenswear into clothing for men and children as into cologne and perfume, bedding, underwear, small leather goods, jewellery, and eyewear.