Jean Manufacturer Wrangler Unveils NFC-Chipped Traceable Vintage Denims

In collaboration with vintage clothing brand MNTGE, Wrangler’s new line of vintage denim integrates blockchain technology.

Unveiled last week during the NFT Paris, the limited-edition digital wearables come with a near field communication (NFC) chip patches. The chips can be digitally signed, and reveals the history of the brand, that are recorded on-chain.

The collection featured 60 pieces of garments at the event, with phone-scannable NFC tags, a report said.

Vintage Wrangler + @mntge_io Tech 🔗📲

Hand sourced vintage western shirts, denim jackets and patches featuring NFC technology that links to a digital receipt with garment specific details and a claimable 3d asset.

Available only at the Future Fashion Summit. pic.twitter.com/fQpn6x7FpN

— MNTGE (@mntge_io) February 22, 2024

Bridging the Past and Future

Sean Gormley, global creative and concept director for Wrangler, noted that customers showed interest to know the brand’s history.

“They want to know more about how the brand is related to the rodeo and who buys our more exclusive products. It makes the feeling of being a customer richer if the brand is willing to reveal more about what goes into the product or how it’s made.”

As a result, the scannable tags links to a customized web page that features Wrangler’s 77-year-old legacy and story.

Further, the vintage western shirts and denim jackets were sourced from the 1970s through the 1990s by MNTGE and re-fashioned with the nascent blockchain integration. Some of the items were decades-old Wrangler pieces reportedly discovered on the floor of a barn in Germany, Gormley noted. He apparently purchased them through Instagram.

“There’s a nice connection between vintage pieces and storytelling. We have a program called Reborn focused on bringing old garments back to life.”

The brand is soon planning to add Reborn’s story, which customers can discover by scanning the NFC chip, he added.

Wrangler Uses Blockchain for Tracking

Additionally, the NFC tags also allow for tracing the item throughout its lifespan using blockchain. “We can update the metadata every time the item is scanned, resold or passed down,” Gormley noted.

Besides, this would ease customers on what label, age of the Wrangler jean or fabric to look for. Gormley believes that providing brand education and authentication could differentiate them from resale channels selling Wrangler.

“If a customer can get an authenticated Wrangler jacket with a bit more story and a bit more insight, that can give them more style credentials.”

The collaboration comes alongside Wrangler’s partnership with Grammy award-winning recording artist Leon Bridges, and under the name ‘Mr. Wrangler’. The product is an NFT, launched to mark the brand’s 75th anniversary, and costs 1.947 Ethereum or $2,609.17.