Artists, designers, and luxury brands are demonstrating the practical applications of nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and blockchain technology in the real world. The recent NFT Paris event in France’s capital attracted thousands of visitors and showcased the increasing impact of Web3 on various industries. Cointelegraph had the opportunity to speak with key figures at the forefront of the intersection between blockchain technology and mainstream adoption.
NFT Paris, held at the Grand Palais Éphémère in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, combined fashion and technology. Attendees displayed their impeccable taste and style while expressing their growing interest in the innovative technology driving the fashion sector.
Brian Trunzo, the Vice President and Head of Business Development at Polygon Labs, spoke with Cointelegraph during a tour of the exhibition hall. Trunzo, a former attorney and successful fashion brand founder, now focuses on onboarding fashion brands to Polygon’s Ethereum-scaling layer-2 ecosystem.
Before joining Polygon, Trunzo had been consulting for major brands and exploring the potential use cases of NFTs and blockchain technology since 2017. He cited examples like Decentraland, CryptoKitties, Axie Infinity, and League of Legends’ in-game skins as demonstrations of the possibilities within virtual environments.
Trunzo explained that while the fashion industry is often seen as avant-garde and progressive, its underlying infrastructure, from supply chain to design and retail, is outdated and slow. However, the idea of selling digital items or digitizing and improving processes is disrupting the industry’s traditional growth and margin-focused approach.
Polygon has collaborated directly with renowned brands in the United States, Europe, and Asia to build on its infrastructure. Trunzo highlighted Nike’s development of its own Web3 platform, Swoosh, as an example of pushing boundaries. Additionally, he mentioned the fascinating supply chain and product lifecycle innovations by LVMH, Prada, OTB, and Mercedes, including the use of Aura tags authenticated on the blockchain.
Aura, a technology developed by Arianee, offers brands access to blockchain digital product passports. While customers may not fully understand these tags yet, Trunzo believes that as blockchain technology becomes more prevalent, their significance will become clearer.
Arianee, powered by Polygon, has become a significant player in the luxury brand sector by providing product passports and NFT functionality to renowned brands. Pierre-Nicolas Hurstel, the CEO of Arianee, explained at NFT Paris that the watchmaking industry has particularly embraced blockchain-based digital passports. He estimated that by the end of 2024, 30% of premium watches produced and sold worldwide would have on-chain product credentials.
Hurstel envisioned the Arianee protocol as creating a continuous connection between brands, objects, and their owners, supported by privacy-preserving functionality.
Frédéric Montagnon, Chairman of Arianee, emphasized the numerous benefits for brands and customers. Arianee’s app enables users to track an item’s maintenance history, insurance, provenance, previous ownership, and also offers Web3 features such as exclusive access to products or experiences.
Fashion brands are also utilizing the community-building aspect of Web3, with The Sandbox, a metaverse platform, being a prime example. The founders of The Sandbox, Sebastien Borget and Arthur Madrid, highlighted that over 10 major fashion brands, including Gucci, Lacoste, LVMH, and Adidas, have rewarded customers with digital assets and NFTs to foster loyalty, engagement, and community building.
Madrid added that Web3 also provides an emerging avenue for young fashion designers to explore disruptive ways of launching products and engaging with their audiences, whether through NFTs, art, digitized collections, metaverse-based experiences, or collectibles.