MILAN — The Aura Blockchain Consortium has named Marcel Härtlein its new Managing Director and Secretary General.
Härtlein was previously head of the digital and IT group at the famous French luxury glassmaker Lalique. He succeeds Romain Carrere, appointed to this position in 2023.
“It is an honor to enter Aura at such a crucial time,” said Härtlein. Through his experience with Lalique in the consortium, he said he “could appreciate its impact in redefining the concepts of trust and craftsmanship in the digital age.”
He enthused about “building on this heritage, supporting Aura’s expansion and strengthening its role as a collaborative standard of excellence for the world’s leading luxury brands.”
The non-profit association Aura was created in 2021 by founding members LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the Prada group, the Cartier brand of Compagnie Financière Richemont, the OTB group, parent company of Diesel, and the Mercedes-Benz group.
“We are happy to welcome Marcel to Aura,” said Lorenzo Bertelli, Marketing Director and Head of Corporate Social Responsibility of the Prada Group and President of Aura. “His managerial experience in the luxury sector and his in-depth knowledge of the Aura ecosystem make him the ideal person to lead this new phase of growth and collaboration. Marcel embodies the founding values of the Consortium: innovation, integrity and pursuit of excellence.”
Härtlein is responsible for expanding Aura’s global membership, accelerating blockchain, and introducing new value-added services and solutions.
One of the objectives is to continue to protect the integrity of brands, increasing transparency throughout the chain and strengthening the links between the brand, the partner and the end customers.
“Joining Aura at this moment in its evolution is truly a privilege. Aura plays a unique and vital role in shaping the future of luxury, not only by building trust and preserving know-how, but also by creating shared digital foundations that enable brands to innovate with confidence,” said Härtlein. “I look forward to advancing this vision, accelerating its global adoption and strengthening Aura’s position as the collaborative standard for the next era of luxury.” »
The consortium today includes more than 50 luxury brands and has registered more than 80 million products on its blockchain.
Aura promotes the use of a unique blockchain solution open to all luxury brands worldwide to help consumers trace the provenance and authenticity of luxury products. It offers a range of solutions to over 25 member brands, including NFTs and a Multi-Token Minter.
Blockchain can include both the upstream, i.e. production and supply information, and the downstream, i.e. loyalty or insurance programs linked to an item, as well as repair and resale.
The technology standards created by Aura’s blockchain establish a framework and technology standard that will help brands adapt to the needs of digital product passports.
The private, closed blockchain network also addresses luxury brands’ privacy concerns, as its technology can be used by all brands but is not owned by any of them. Its technology allows member brands to align with European Union sustainability requirements.
In 2022, Aura joined the Sustainable Markets Initiative Fashion Working Group.
The SMI Coalition, aimed at accelerating the transition to a more sustainable future in the global fashion, textiles and clothing sector, was launched by the former Prince of Wales, now King Charles, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in 2020, and its fashion working group is chaired by former Yoox Net-a-porter CEO Federico Marchetti.
