NFTs and Luxury Fashion: A Conscious Coupling
NFTs have taken the world by storm—it seems nearly impossible now to go through an entire day without hearing about this relatively new phenomenon. Holding immense potential and what seems like endless new opportunities for the future of fashion, NFTs have certainly caught the eye of luxury fashion houses. It is safe to say many more NFTs are on the horizon and fashion's presence is growing in the metaverse; L'Officiel, too, is joining with its own fashion collection launching in the metaverse. Here are the luxury labels that have so far entered this new world:
Gucci
Gucci marked its entrance into NFTs by auctioning its short film 'Aria' as an NFT. The four-minute video was created and co-directed by Alessandro Michele, the brand’s creative director, together with photographer Floria Sigismondi. The NFT sold at Christie’s for $25,000 in June 2021.
Louis Vuitton
In honour of the late founder’s 200th birthday, the fashion house released 'Louis the Game', which could be downloaded on mobile devices. The game featured Louis Vuitton's customizable figurine “Vivienne” through her journey throughout 200 virtual worlds to find two-hundred birthday candles. Upon completing the game, players can look for thirty hidden collectable NFTs, ten of which were designed in collaboration with major digital artist Beeple.
Dolce and Gabbana
As the first major fashion house to release an NFT collection, Dolce and Gabbana’s collaboration with UNXD was an undeniable success. Titled 'Collezione Genesi', the collection consisted of nine pieces: five NFTs that were accompanied by custom physical pieces and four strictly digital NFTs. The collection sold out for a shocking $6 million.
Burberry
In collaboration with Mythical Games, Burberry created a custom Blankos, a digital vinyl toy, for the game Blankos Block Party. Named 'Sharky B', the house’s own digital toy is adorned with the new TB Summe Monogram and can be bought, sold, and upgraded. The collaboration also consisted of other Burberry NFT accessories to be sold in the game.
Givenchy
Givenchy’s entry into the world of NFTs was much more traditional. The fashion house collaborated with digital artist Chito to create fifteen unique NFT avatars, which were sold on OpenSea, the largest marketplace for NFTs.
Jimmy Choo
Jimmy Choo’s venture into the NFT world was in collaboration with New York City-based artist Eric Haze. The winner of the sold-out collection received an exclusive sneaker designed by Eric Haze as well as a physical custom copy of the shoes, as well as 8,888 NFT mystery boxes containing the brand’s famous stilettos.
Balmain
In January 2022, Balmain released a Balmain X Barbie collection. Part of the collection is a series of three Barbie avatars created in collaboration with FORGOT ME NOT GMBH that will be sold at auction and will accompany a physical Barbie model as well.
