The Kering X CSF collaborative unit allowed MA students from a variety of backgrounds to learn about fashion and sustainability, and to develop systems collaboratively for the luxury market, while challenging and reforming our current views on sustainability, ethics, and fashion.
The final brief for the collaborative unit was open-ended, relating to ecological sustainability, and relating back to our values as a team. We wanted to develop an effective blockchain management system that was driven by narrative and accompanied by new innovative technological in-store retail experiences. The system works with a QR code or Snaptag in a garment or accessory, beginning with a small pilot collection of accessories by one of Kering’s houses, which would directly open on smartphone or tablet to a platform detailing the specifications and history of the piece. On the platform, the customer could learn about each house’s history, views on sustainability and vision, and how they can be part of it: past, present, and future narratives. Within each house’s page, customers could also tag themselves with these products for a chance to be featured
on the Kering platform, narrating an experience they had with their piece or sharing knowledge, therefore also creating a sense of community within their luxury family and spreading knowledge in an engaging and non-taxing way. Lastly, customers would have the option to detail their stories with their garments with their names and to pass them onto third party online consignment stores such as Thread-Up or Real Real, and their names would be passed down in history for archival purposes and to create emotional attachment and promote longevity. I created the click-through website, as well as the accompanying videos. For our presentation, we created a magic mirror mockup with a two-way mirror and iPad showing how the in-store experience would work, as well as the QR code linked to the fully functioning website. This presents an ideal way brands should behave, remaining accountable, detailing their sources, manufacturing processes, and how this impacts the environment and people.
