French fashion house Chloé, says its commitment to making its items completely traceable and resale-ready is "a first in the industry" and marks the beginning of a "new chapter of transparency for luxury."

The revolutionary digital ID system, dubbed the "Vertical" project, is powered by EON technology and enables customers to scan the labels of Chloé products from its spring/summer 2023 collection with a smartphone in order to track their item from the field to the final product.

To speed up the resale process and "enable full circularity," the digital ID will also include an ownership certificate that will permit direct selling through the secondhand marketplace Vestiaire Collective. To guarantee that consumers' possessions last as long as possible, technology also provides comprehensive product care and repair information.

In a statement, Chloé said that the initiative's three major goals are to "guarantee authenticity, traceability, and to enable care and repair." Customers "can obtain their product's certificate of authenticity, complete with a unique ownership number, and also learn more about the entire production process, find maintenance and repair instructions, and even locate their goods."

According to Chloé, the first goods to be a part of the Vertical initiative are ready-to-wear, ready-to-wear in leather, linen, silk, and wool. Customers will notice that all of the leather used in Vertical products comes from French farms. The hides are then tanned by the French tannery Haas, which is a member of the Leather Working Group and bears the designation "Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant" (EPV), which means "Living Heritage Company."

According to Chloé, the Normandy-based farming cooperative Terre de Lin provides the linen for the ready-to-wear range, and it is farmed with less negative environmental effects. Additionally, the linen is spun and weaved in France. While the wool in the collection is obtained from Gabriela Hearst's family ranch in Uruguay and the silk used in the collection is GOTS-certified, it is spun and woven in Italy.

Riccardo Bellini, president and chief executive of Chloé, said that the launch of Chloé Vertical is a testament to the important progress that can be achieved toward building a fully transparent and circular business model when there is collaboration across the industry. Following the oaths, they made when they joined the Sustainable Markets Initiative, which was established in 2020 by His Majesty King Charles III while he was The Prince of Wales.

Bellini added that he is thrilled to give Chloé customers around the world a chance to decide for themselves how transparent, traceable, and circular our products are. The approaches they used on this project are being shared via their Open Source initiative, which he is happy about. They believe that this will encourage the industry to embrace these methodologies widely, and he looks forward to expanding this creative endeavor going forward.

According to Chloé, the usage of digital ID will "play a crucial role in speeding the business model transformations needed across the fashion sector." The company aims to implement a Digital ID on all of its items by the year 2025.

As part of its plan to create a circular business model and increase the useful life of its products, Chloé has also started an exclusive pilot project with Vestiaire Collective in the US, Europe, and the UK that will run for a year.

All Vertical items with digital IDs will have quick resale potential thanks to a system that the French fashion house developed in collaboration with Vestiaire Collective. As they will be able to sell their previously owned Chloé items via a co-branded portal run by Vestiaire Collective, this will offer a simplified consumer selling experience.

Customers will confirm the item's condition, upload product images, and receive an immediate price offer from Vestiaire Collective after arriving at a specific Chloé x Vestiaire Collective pre-filled listing form. Customers will receive payment without having to wait for the sale once the price of an item has been agreed upon, the product has been authenticated, and it is within the control of the resale platform.

Customers have a choice of three exchange options: they can accept a voucher that can be used at Chloé online or in-store, a Vestiaire Collective voucher, a first for the platform, or they can choose to donate money to UNICEF's programs for gender equality.