2021 was the year that catapulted NFTs into the world of fashion, with the Metaverse also now merging with fashion labels to uncover new lengths to crypto’s growing rise. It all started off with the NFT market gaining $2.5 billion (Dhs 9 billion) in sales within the first half of 2021 to Karl Lagerfeld NFTs that sold out in mere 33.77 seconds in September 2021. Now, you can’t help but notice how the digital space is quickly becoming a hotspot for creatives to showcase their art. With fashion houses and renowned designers taking the NFT craze to a whole new level with their innovative creations, below are all the major NFT fashion releases that were the brainchildren of these luxe brands.
GUCCI
Gucci was the first luxury brand to launch NFTs, with a film inspired by its Aria collection and was named PROOF OF SOVEREIGNTY: A Curated NFT Sale by Lady PheOnix. The NFT film was co-directed by Gucci’s creative director, Alessandro Michele, and award-winning photographer and director Floria Sigismondi. All the proceeds from the auction were donated to UNICEF USA to help the organisation’s initiative in providing COVID-19 vaccines.
Recently, the Italian fashion house also invested in a digital land on the metaverse, The Sandbox, to provide customers with virtual fashion options to choose from as well as build on more futuristic projects.
Louis Vuitton
To celebrate the fashion house’s 200-year milestone, Louis Vuitton released ‘Louis the Game’ as an ode to its founder. The adventure-based game follows the lead character Vivienne through six locations while she’s on the hunt to collect 200 candles, learn about the rich history of the brand, and discover the 30 embedded NFTs designed by Beeple.
Burberry
Burberry collaborated with Mythical Games to launch an NFT collection titled, ‘Blankos Block Party.’ The Blankos Block Party is a multi-player party game with Blankos wearing Burberry’s new TB Summer Monogram. The limited-edition piece also features in-game NFT accessories, including a jetpack, armbands and pool shoes, available as an option for Blanko to wear.
“Gaming is a unique space for us to test and learn and trial digital innovations that embody our values and celebrate creativity amongst our communities,” said Rod Manley, the chief marketing officer at Burberry. “With this exciting concept, we are able to unlock genuine value for the gaming community by encouraging players to interact with our brand in an environment that celebrates art, design, and exploration.”
Rami Kadi
On 2nd February 2022, Lebanese designer Rami Kadi released 120 NFTs for his Spring/Summer 2022 collection, Lucid Algorithms, and dubbed it as “the very first human-computer couture co-creation of this scale.”
“The NFT collection is a collection that was generated by the computer with the algorithm, with all the information that I gave to the computer,” said Kadi about his label’s new debut NFT launch in an exclusive interview with GRAZIA. “Those NFTs, as utilities, will give you a way, that if you own one of these NFTs, you can create a physical dress inspired by these NFTs, or if you have your avatar, or if you’re in the metaverse, or if you have any other NFT that you own, I can dress your avatar in this NFT. In the future when the metaverse will be accessible to everyone, we will have events or parties or shows, and to be able to come to these events, as a user, you’ll have to own NFTs.”
Balenciaga
In partnership with Fortnite, players had the opportunity to pick out skins and accessories for the gaming characters Doggo, Ramirez, Banshee, and Knight at virtual stores by Balenciaga. The brands also debuted a limited collection available at select Balenciaga stores and on the label’s website.
Dolce & Gabbana
Dolce & Gabbana’s collection, titled Collezione Genesi, simply cannot be missed from the list. With Ethereum rising up to 10% at the time, the collection was valued at an estimated $6 million (Dhs 22 million) on the platform UNXD. In particular, the Glass Suit, designed by Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, was sold for around $1 million (Dhs 3 million) at the auction.
