The new app that spots bootleg items

The phenomenon of luxury resale has now become one of the pillars of the contemporary fashion landscape. We see a growth four times faster than the primary luxury market, and platforms like Vestiaire Collective and The Real Real have replaced the giants - currently in crisis - of e-commerce. Nevertheless, many customers are still very hesitant about "pre-loved" products, with the main concern being authenticity. Despite the in-house authentication services offered by resale platforms, until a few years ago, many customers complained of receiving items that were mistakenly identified as authentic when in reality they were fakes. To err is human, but Authentique, the French authentication app, has found the solution to this persistent problem, and its partner in crime is the American technology company Alitheon, a leader in the field of artificial intelligence.

Authentique, the latest initiative from the pioneering fashion technology group ORDE, is an app that has been providing an AI service to authenticate luxury products since 2023. With a simple and intuitive design, the French platform uses visual recognition technology, via instructions and frames on specific points. Once the product is identified, the app creates a true digital fingerprint that can be used as a passport to track all the information related to the item. The real revolution is that once identified, the passport is placed on Web3, and is effectively irremovable: it cannot be changed or paired with a similar piece. A vast change from the now obsolete NFC, QR codes, and the like. Continuously perfecting this technology is the American software company Alitheon, which has developed one of the most advanced artificial intelligence of the moment, FeaturePrint - named by Time Magazine as one of the best inventions of 2023.

The AI can detect the authenticity and origin of the item through a simple photo and can be used with any object, from Pokémon cards to aerospace mechanisms. The focus on fashion, however, is already evident on the homepage of the American company's official website, which highlights the use of FeaturePrint for resell and counterfeit identification. After all, the alliance between Alitheon and Authentique couldn't have come at a better time, as from July 18, 2024, the European Union will implement the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation. The new regulation introduces significant changes for the fashion world, primarily the ban on destroying unsold clothes and the creation of digital passports for all product information, all aimed at reducing environmental impact and increasing recycling and reuse of garments. While the big brands will be able to implement it in-house for items in new collections, Authentique - with its latest update - will be able to cover all that gray area of pre-owned items, entrusting the customer themselves with the creation of the digital identity of their assets.

From the testimony of the founder of the ORDE group, Simon P. Locke, it is clear how the collaboration opens a new chapter in the fight against counterfeiting, a rival that luxury brands have always tried to defeat over the years: "Our deep presence and understanding of the market, combined with Alitheon's superior technology, will allow our customers to tackle some of the biggest challenges in the industry." Authentique is ready to make history and become a truly indispensable mechanism in the world of luxury resale, shaping a team of experts from every perspective.

Recently, Kering group veteran and former CEO of the fashion house Tomas Maier, Daniela Ott, was appointed as Strategic Adviser. Additionally, the French company has already entered into an official partnership with some brands, including Patou and Burberry.