Circular Economy
How digital authentication could drive a resale revolution for fashion
Retail brands and secondhand clothing resale platforms must collaborate on new authentication tools to build consumer trust and boost the circular economy
Jason Berns
Jason Berns is the Senior Vice President of Product and Manufacturing Innovation within Global Operations of the Ralph Lauren Corporation. Ralph Lauren Corporation is a global fashion brand with 2019FY revenues of $US 6.3 Billion and thousands of retail locations world-wide. A Bachelor of Science Industrial Design from the University of Cincinnati Mr. Berns provides leadership in Product Innovation. After serving at Salomon Sports, Arc’teryx Equipment, Fisher Price and most recently Under Armour Inc. he joined Ralph Lauren Corporation in 2016.
Mr. Berns has applied his experience in Europe, Canada, and Asia championing concepts from drawings, to prototypes, to factory production, and technology scaling, has been actively involved in all aspects of the product creation process from ideation to technology acquisition and licensing through to commercialization. Mr.Berns has spent enough time on factory floors in Asia to be recognized as a competent line-stitcher. Together with many other achievements he is listed as a primary inventor on more than a dozen patents.
Prior to joining Ralph Lauren, Mr. Berns served as the Sr. Director for Open Innovation and Apparel in Advanced Concepts at Under Armour Inc. Under his lead the Open Innovation team engaged in discovering, acquiring, applying and protecting great technologies.
Numerous new Under Armour technologies were identified from outside the sports industry; his ideology is finding opportunities with unexpected people or groups and in unexpected industries subsequently reaching the performance edge to drive new product concepts, new business opportunities, sustain innovation and ensure continued strong growth.
As the principal for Product & Manufacturing Innovation at Ralph Lauren, Mr. Berns is tailoring a team and processes to allow Ralph Lauren to identify unique value-added and consumer focused opportunities in key product areas.
Since creating the Product and Manufacturing innovation team at Ralph Lauren; the team has launched programs including a direct to consumer on-demand customized product manufacturing platform, initiated 3D design and development programs, developed and launched a recycled and waterless version of the iconic polo shirt, created marque technologies for the US Olympic team uniforms, and launched a world’s first scalable apparel serialization and authentication program.
In August 2020, Mr. Berns was appointed to serve as a Board Member to Natural Fiber Welding (NFW), a leading sustainable material science startup that has revolutionized the reuse of natural fibers – such as cotton waste – into patented, high-performance materials.
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