76 Upending fakes

Upending fakes

Counterfeit goods could soon be consigned to the past.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technology are being used to catch and ultimately upend luxury fakes circulating in the secondhand market.

In April 2021, three luxury giants, LVMH, Prada Group and Richemont, joined forces with a united vision to protect the authenticity and trustworthiness of the industry. The pact formed the Aura Consortium—a new global system using blockchain technology to authenticate luxury goods, from sourcing to the sale transaction and even through to the resale market. In October 2021, Group OTB, which owns a mix of high street and luxury brands including Diesel and Marni, joined the Aura Consortium as a founding member.

AI-powered luxury authenticator Entrupy bills itself as the “first and only ondemand authentication solution for high-value goods,” and has a reported accuracy rate of 99.1%. The New York-based company, launched in 2016, employs deep learning to compare images to determine a genuine luxury item versus a fake.

Trade in counterfeit products was valued at $464 billion in 2019, reports the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and according to a study by Certilogo the online counterfeit market hit an all-time-high during the pandemic, growing 5% between May 2020 to April 2021. This coincides with the rising popularity of the secondhand market, which is forecast to reach $77 billion by 2025 according to ThredUp.

Why it’s interesting Luxury resales will remain popular, particularly among the growing cohort of conscious consumers. Leaders in luxury and tech are creating faster solutions to identify fakes and protect the authenticity of luxury brands.