October 25, 2022

Jay-Z Backed Tech Founder, Iddris Sandu, Is Bringing Fashion To The Blockchain

25-year-old Iddris Sandu is a technologist and founder of Spatial Labs (sLabs) an organization committed to reshaping the future of commerce, Blockchain technology, and fashion. 

The technologist, born in Accra, Ghana, moved to Los Angeles when he was three years old. After teaching himself how to code and partaking in a range of internships and consultancy programs, Sandu set his sights on reshaping the way technology exists in the world. Additionally, he stuck to his word and became one of the youngest founders to enter Black Enterprise’s 40 under 40 list.

The young entrepreneur’s collaboration with rapper Nipsey Hussle soon established him in the industry, with many people later branding him as hip-hop’s ‘face of technology.

Bridging the gap between digital and physical

Sandu’s startup, sLabs, backed by Jay-Z’s venture capital firm Marcy Ventures, is a software infrastructure company focused on building tools for the Metaverse.

sLabs’ first project, LNQ, aims to bridge the gap between fashion products in the physical and digital worlds with a one-of-a-kind Wearable Internet collection. The chip-enabled garments merge the avant-garde feel of the Metaverse with the collective human experience that many of us love when it comes to fashion and design. 

Spatial Labs

The collection, a self-explanatory display of its name, brings a new meaning to the clothes while marking the beginning of a new era of the Metaverse, which sees technology and fashion merge into one.

“Companies such as Meta and Oculus are designing headsets to put you in a virtual world, we [Spatial Labs] are saying, ‘how can we take the power of the blockchain to enhance the physical products that you have in the real world, but would still allow you to convert that to the virtual world,” Sandu said in an interview with Forbes

According to FutureVVorld, the California-based venture capital organization embeds LNQ One Chip technology into the items to scale into blockchain digital assets. 

Not only does the technology give consumers the ability to track its history and origin, but it also makes them more mindful of the garment’s use and durability, promoting sustainability and accountability within fashion.

After selling out in days, the collection has caught the attention of thousands of celebrity fashionistas and consumers. The microchip embedded into the clothing will provide each seller with complete transparency around the product’s lifecycles. 

Is this the future of fashion? We don’t know, but it’s looking very promising. 

Kumba Kpakima

Kumba Kpakima is a reporter at POCIT. A documentary about the knife crime epidemic in the UK got her a nomination for the UK's #30toWatch Young Journalists of the Year.