Fashion and NFTs: Is the Investment Worth It?

The fun thing is the same: in the contemplation of fashion e-commerce sites – so far some scrolling. Looking for something for a special occasion, I settled on a sparkling, fringed amethyst two-piece set from Beyoncé’s favorite Dundas. A little further than I normally go, but I guess it’s a good time to be adventurous.

There is a dopamine release that comes with the “offer” that is immediately reinforced when it is accepted – the form is mine. The only thing different? There will be no tracking package to tear, no fabric to touch or test. Far from physical, this form is a matter of pixels, a fashionable irrevocable token (NFT) designed to be worn only in the digital space.

Like Birkin and standbys, fashion and the metaverse are perfect – and inevitable – partners. Both ride on the oil, confounding the privileged and the masses — and major fashion houses are getting in on the act. In the year In 2021, users sent over $US44.2 billion through NFT marketplaces, up from $US106 million in 2020.

Gucci was one of the first luxury brands to enter the NFT universe. The Italian fashion house’s NFT was inspired by the four-minute film Aria’s collection and sold at Christie’s auction in June 2021 for $25,000. Since then, they have founded Roblox and Famous Cities in the Metaverse gaming platform. Collaborated with digital artists on the release of more NFT collections. Burberry wearable NFTs for its NFT character Sharky B (aka the crypto video game Blancos Block Party) generated over $US375,000 in sales.

Dolce & Gabbana set records after launching nine NFT collections at Venice Fashion Week with a total of $5.7 million. In January, Balmain released its NFT collaboration with Barbie, which included three different digital dolls in a monochromatic pink look complete with the house’s signature monogram print. It launched with a co-branded physical collection with apparel, t-shirts, jackets and shoes.

The Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, which runs Paris Fashion Week and Haute Couture Week, recently partnered with Arianee, the leading NFT platform for the luxury and fashion industries, to create NFTs that can be exchanged during Paris Fashion Week Spring. Summer menswear 2022 shows and other top fashion exhibitions.

Meanwhile, Prada, Richmont and L.M.H. Joining forces, they formed the Aura Blockchain Consortium, providing traceability solutions to their clients.

Like perfumes, makeup and accessories, NFTs can allow high entry-level access to the world of high fashion, a new way for customers to sample the exclusive domain.

Major fashion stores, including Crypto and Metaverse Fashion Weeks and Gucci and Off-White, now accept crypto payments, partnering with brands like Dolce & Gabbana, Tommy Hilfiger and Etro. Everyone seems to be getting down to business. But if you’re anything like me, even though people are into NFTing, you might feel like you’re not sure why or how.

So what are Invincible Tokens? Like Bitcoin, NFTs are considered a form of currency. Unlike Bitcoin, they are not “fungible” (can be exchanged for other items of similar value). NFTs are unique, one-of-a-kind and non-replicable, and can only be purchased from their current owner. An application called blockchain tracks and tracks NFT logistics and activity between each NFT buyer and seller.

“Nowadays there are only a few people. [about 360,000 globally] NFTs of their own, so brands entering this space are either doing so to connect with consumers who have made the game or to emphasize their position as innovators to the wider market, said Peta Marian, a Melbourne-based luxury business analyst.

“The trend lines suggest that we will likely spend more time in Metavas-style positions in the future, which [indicates] Digital assets such as NFTs are gaining importance. As the industry advances, digital objects can have deep intrinsic value because they have so many connections to the real world.

Nuno, an Australian startup and digital platform, encourages its audience to buy, sell, collect and trade NFTs from designers such as Glenn Martens and Diesel. He has also worked with bodies such as the Australian Fashion Council, helping eight designers bring their NFTs to the Metaverse, and working with shoe designer Giuseppe Zanotti for Decentraland’s Metaverse Fashion Week.

On the platform, consumers can use fashion NFTs in a variety of ways. For example, if you buy a dress, you can try it on and dress your game character in the same piece.

“The transformation of traditional fashion into its metaphysical counterpart, what we call ‘metafashion,’ has and continues to occur in a natural way that helps us live and explore the world around us,” said co-founder Natalia Modenova. (with Daria Shapovalova) Digital fashion platform DressX.

“We have become ‘avatars of ourselves’ on many social media channels, messaging and streaming services. Digital fashion is designed to dress our digital selves. In the future, all fashion brands – luxury, haute couture, streetwear, everyone – will own a digital fashion line and we believe that everyone will have a digital fashion wardrobe; We call it Metacloset.

With the goal of “dressing one billion people digitally”, DressX had to respond to the rapidly growing NFT demand of its users in the first few months of its launch in mid-2020. Since then, the company has launched several collaborations in the NFT space, including with Jason Wu and crypto.com.

Demand was so high, he launched the first and only NFT marketplace for wearable digital fashion, a place to trade, buy, sell, and “wear” NFTs—like the Net-a-Porter of NFTs. The platform’s big picture goal is to provide an “infinite digital closet” for any and all aspiring digital presence and 3D and fashion designers to grow professionally.

Currently, the users of the platform are international – mainly from the US, Europe and Eastern European countries – the main age groups are 18-24 and 25-34, although Shapovalova is cautious that digital fashion is used by people of all ages, genders and nationalities. Coming primarily from social media such as Instagram, TikTok and Twitter, as well as games, video calls and XR (augmented and virtual reality), groups are “growing rapidly,” she said.

“Freedom [the] Innovations in the digital fashion industry will influence the way people use and consume fashion, Shapovalova said.

“Some people use digital clothes to experiment with their looks or update their old pictures, while others use it as an opportunity to become the person they’ve always seen. [of]He said.

According to former marketing executive Sasha Wallinger, who specializes in translating fashion into different ways of working and worked on the Gucci x Superplastic “SuperGucci” NFT collaboration for Gucci’s 100th anniversary, this new group of consumers simply wants to express themselves and how. You live for the world in the clothes you wear in the digital space. Like stylists, they are interested in developing “digital twins” and creating characters.

“In Fortnite, the Balenciaga hoodie was big,” said Wallinger. Digital-to-physical Balenciaga’s collaboration with the online video game Fortnite – the platform allowed the high fashion brand to enter the universe for the first time. Players can dress their avatars in the new Balenciaga collection, and they can also buy the collection in Balenciaga bricksand-mortar stores. “As with fashion, there’s still this impulse to show and share, we just show and share in different ways,” she says.

A woman in an often male-dominated field, Wallinger explains how important it is for many of us to “lean” into the opposite direction.

“I really recommend that women learn even one part about Web3. Augmented reality, virtual reality, graphic design—there are so many amazing female artists with a huge legacy in the NFT space.”

Indeed, smart contracts allow artists to be truly compensated for their work for the first time, breaking the decades-old culture of copycats and works shared across social channels. Web3 spaces are also, Wallinger explains, very inclusive.

“LGBTQ+ and gender fluidity happens freely in these spaces, for women and non-binary individuals who come to these ecosystems and feel free to choose who they are in many ways,” she said.

So what’s the right way for those of us who have yet to dive into the NFT pool? “You just have to buy it. There’s no two ways about it,” says Wallinger.

“Choose a project that suits you. I look for beauty and how it relates to who you are as an individual, just like when you’re shopping for clothes or accessories in real life. “Just go for what you love.”

This story originally appeared in the September issue of Marie Claire.