Street Superior, Singapore’s biggest streetwear event, took place November 2-3 at *SCAPE, featuring big brands such as Vans, Under Armour, and Swatch, alongside independent artists and designers from all over the world. The festival focused on “The Art of Customization” with competitions, workshops, and demonstrations from top foreign and local artists. This year, Street Superior took customization one step further, by showcasing a line of collaboration merchandise with event partners. These products were all chipped using VeChain’s NFC technology, which was used to showcase the story behind the brands, artists, and Street Superior itself.

Guests learned more about the story behind the custom snekers

Custom sneakers were a main attraction, which is why Australian community group The Kickz Stand was in attendance, bringing along Australian designers Chase Shiel and Grail Crew Customs. Together they created unique designs for the event, with each pair having an NFC chip sewn under the tongue. Visitors who scanned the product with the VeChain Pro app could verify the products, and check out photos, video, and data about the creation process of the item.

Being able to share the story behind a custom sneaker is invaluable for independent artists and creators, it was great to be a part of the process here at Street Superior. Jay Mijares – Co-Founder @ The Kickz Stand

Sarah Nabaa (VeChain) stands with members of The Kickz Stand, Chase Shiel, and Grail Crew Customs

For those needing refreshments in the Singapore heat, Whiskey maker Copper Dog was selling cocktails and a limited edition collaboration bottle with local artist Russel Ong. 100 bottles were made in total, each featuring a VeChain NFC chip on the custom bottle label. Each bottle came with an engravable copper dipper, a homage to the brand’s past where the original Speyside producers would steal whiskey from the distillery using a copper pipe with a penny welded to the bottom in order to avoid taxes.

It was important for Street Superior to take the Limited-Edition Series further, not only through facilitating an artist collaboration. In addition to ensuring the bottles’ proof of authenticity, conveying the brand story of the artwork and its craftsmanship was imperative. This could only have been established and made possible by Street Superior using VeChain ToolChain, a simple way to develop applications running on the VeChainThor Blockchain. Jonathan Fong, Co-Founder @ Street Superior

A new addition to Street Superior this year was a custom toy collection from brands like Flab Slab and Whale Rabbit. These brands sell handmade art collectibles, designer toys, and original creations around the globe, making them a major target for counterfeiters. By using ToolChain, these artists are able to thwart counterfeiters by linking the product to a verifiable record on a public blockchain. They are also able to share photos and videos, giving life to the complex background stories many of these toys have. Flab Slab and Whale Rabbit tend to push out inventive and somewhat unorthodox creations, making this extra media a valuable inclusion in the product design.

I think a huge advantage is the added content, these days the added content helps to explain the story a lot easier. Rather than just certifying the product, you can tell the story of the product as well. Jeffrey Koh – Founder @ FLAB SLAB

We are proud to have partnered with VeChain to have this verified. It helps a lot with the tracking of where our products actually lead to. It’s important to us because we have incidents of our products being faked in foreign markets. We are excited to take this to the next level, so we can see how implementing VeChain into the products can really benefit us. Isaac Leon – Founder @ Whale Rabbit

Visitors to the event were impressed by the technology, and excited to be able to learn more about the design and authenticity of their products. For fans, there is no doubt that basic blockchain integration allows them to shop with confidence, learn more about unique items, and even empower a thriving resale market. More complex blockchain integration offers even more benefits, an area that creators and artists will wish to explore.

Now, the pressure is on the industry to adapt. Artists at the event discussed the problems the industry faced not just from counterfeiters, but from designers themselves. Without any oversight or viable means of tracking, artists are free to produce as many “limited editions” as possible, a practice that erodes trust from consumers. While this might cause some in the industry to resist change, the general reaction indicates that consumer demand will reward artists who focus on the benefits that transparency, traceability, and being able to differentiate their products will bring them.

Special thanks to all the partners who took the time to speak to VeChain101. We encourage everyone to check them out and follow them on social media!

Street Superior: https://www.instagram.com/street.superior/

The Kickz Stand: @thekickzstand

Chase Shiel: https://www.instagram.com/chaseshiel/

Grail Crew Customs: https://www.instagram.com/grailcrew_customs/

Big Big Con: https://www.instagram.com/bigbigconsg/

Flab Slab: https://www.instagram.com/flabslab/

Whale Rabbit: https://www.instagram.com/whalerabbitofficial/

Copper Dog Whiskey: https://www.instagram.com/copperdogwhisky/

Learn more about using ToolChain on VeChain’s official website.