Jeff Staple is embarking on his latest partnership to bring better authentication tools and user experiences to the fashion world.
The streetwear designer behind his eponymous label and creative agency Reed Art Department is joining forces with Boston-based technology company Endstate as a strategic adviser and investor. Through the partnership, Staple will leverage the company’s NFC — near-field communication — chip technology, which he said aids in authentication and experiences.
“No brand has done this and mainly because the technology isn’t there, there’s a barrier to entry,” Staple said. “There’s maybe half a dozen players in the field that do this, and Endstate to me is the leader because there are three components that make Endstate desirable to me and you have to do these thing well.”
Staple explained the three components are hardware, backend and product implementation. He stated he believes that because Endstate, which launched in 2021, has created fashion collections in the past and has expertise in NFC chip-making, they were the right partner for this kind of collaboration.
The streetwear designer will leverage the technology by embedding the chips in the Staple brand’s offerings. Customers can then access the NFC chip through their mobile phone and will see a verification that indicates the item is an authentic Staple item.
Staple explained he wanted this level of authentication because he’s seen many of his designs, including his sneaker collaborations with the likes of Nike and Reebok, get bootlegged throughout his career. He also wants to encourage other brands under his agency to utilize the technology.
“We’re just an adviser, we’re not stakeholders in these brands, but I think that showing proof case that we’re doing it and we’re implementing it into our collections, that our partners and clients will be very amendable to it, too,” Staple said. “I think the network is just going to really grow.”
The other component of Staple’s partnership with Endstate is to create enhanced experiences for customers. Through the garments’ NFC chip, Staple explained there are opportunities to gamify customers’ outfits, such as customers earning points each time they see someone else wearing a Staple item or if they themselves are discovered wearing Staple. The points can then be used in a rewards system that Staple compared to airline rewards programs.
Staple explained his goal for the partnership is to continue moving fashion into the future and to utilize technologies to improve the customer experience.
“Clothing, fashion and footwear for the most part haven’t changed for the last century,” he said. “The distribution of it has changed — like e-commerce and buying through social media — but the actual garments themselves haven’t changed much. This to me is one of the biggest benchmark changes that really will improve the way that you interact with your clothing and the way the brand can gain knowledge on how their customers use their clothing. No matter what brand you are, you know how many people bought your clothing, but you don’t know how often they wore it and how often they visited your store. That’s the most interesting thing for me — how we spearhead into the future of fashion.”
