Fashion Embraces Blockchain: From Karl Lagerfeld's Archive to Digital Couture

The fashion industry, hit hard by the pandemic, is turning to blockchain technology to address sustainability and counterfeiting issues. Karl Lagerfeld's photographic legacy of over 120,000 images, inherited by Eric Pfrunder (former artistic director of Chanel), will be registered on the Lukso blockchain rather than sold at auction or exhibited. The photos will be released at intervals as digital copies, limited editions, physical prints, exhibitions, or books. Lukso is a German blockchain startup. Meanwhile, Auroboros, the first digital fashion brand, is selling virtual garments on the styling game app Drest, founded by Lucy Yeomans (ex-Net-a-Porter and Harper's Bazaar UK). Their collection of 14 digital items, priced between £100 and £450, includes tops with vines, dresses with lymphatic system motifs, and coats with living plants. Founders Paula Sello and Alissa Aulbekova were supported by the Sarabande Foundation (Lee Alexander McQueen) in 2020. Buyers send photos to be 'dressed' digitally, receiving an email instead of a physical package. The article notes the parallel rise of virtual and physical art markets, citing Beeple's $69 million NFT sale at Christie's and Sacha Jafri's $62 million painting sale in Dubai. The shift is driven by Millennials, Gen Z, and the emerging Alpha generation.