Brands are experimenting with blockchain platforms. Blockchain is a decentralized database. This means it doesn’t live on any one computer. The digital ledger technology is designed to be immutable, rendering it nearly impossible to tamper with without leaving a trace. This is a critical milestone in the movement toward verifying where raw materials come from and how they are produced.

Some of retail’s and tech’s biggest names are trying to figure out how blockchain can get their supply chains under control. Alibaba is looking into how blockchain can work with other technologies, like cloud and Internet of Things, to create an industrial brain and facilitate the flow of cross-border goods, while Target is also investigating distributed ledger technology for use in its sprawling supply networks. Cellulose fiber producer Lenzing has undertaken a blockchain-based traceability pilot that monitors the journey of the Austrian firm’s tree-based raw materials from source to store. Apparel and footwear customers have successfully been tracing their goods with German blockchain startup Retraced’s platform.

Consumers are demanding greater transparency into the products they wear and are driving fashion brands to focus on assuring shoppers of an item’s ethical origin. Less than five per cent of the top 250 apparel brands can track their garments back to the fiber origin.