Category: Fashion

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Nike Launches Web3 Platform .SWOOSH to House NFTs

Global footwear giant, Nike, has announced the launch of its new NFT platform which is touted to become the centrepiece of the brand’s push into Web3.

The platform, known as .Swoosh, will feature Nike’s virtual apparel and footwear creations, which will be able to be purchased, traded and used in a range of yet to be announced Web3 games and “other immersive experiences”. 

.Swoosh, which runs on the Polygon blockchain, will also provide future opportunities for select co-creators to partner with Nike to make NFTs on the platform and earn royalties. 

.Swoosh Nike’s Latest Push Into Web 3

Nike has slowly been increasing its adoption of Web 3 tech over the past few years — in 2019 the brand filed a patent for Web3 enabled sneakers known as ‘Cryptokicks’ and in 2020 Nike acquired fashion NFT startup RTFKT Studios.

The launch of .Swoosh however, suggests a more strategic approach and deeper commitment to Web 3 from Nike. In the release announcing the launch of .Swoosh, Nike spelled out its ambitious hopes for the new platform saying its purpose is to “expand the definition of sport” by “democratising the web3 experience so that everyone can collect, create and own a piece of this new digital world.”

Speaking on the launch of the new platform, Ron Faris, General Manager of Nike Virtual Studios further explained:

“We are shaping a marketplace of the future with an accessible platform for the web3-curious…In this new space, the .SWOOSH community and Nike can create, share, and benefit together.” 

Ron Faris, General Manager of Nike Virtual Studios

.Swoosh will remain in invite-only beta for the rest of 2022, with the first collection planned to be launched sometime in 2023. 

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Luxury Fashion Brand Prada to Release 100 ETH-Based NFTs

Prada is expanding its presence in Web3 with the upcoming launch of its second NFT collection, which relates back to the series of physical shirts the luxury brand has been selling since December 2019.

Prada’s Timecapsule shirts in white (also available in black).

The 100 Ethereum-based NFTs correspond to the Prada Timecapsule, a 2019 series of shirts available in black or white. The physical project includes 100 gender-neutral shirts designed in collaboration with artist Cassius Hirst – son of Damien Hirst, the UK’s richest living artist – which will directly link to the airdropped NFTs.

The GIF representations of those NFTs are white or black pill capsules (above) that come with serial numbers linking them to each shirt:

Airdrops on First Thursday of Each Month

On the first Thursday of every month since 2019, the Italian luxury brand has featured a limited-edition item drop from the series on its website. In the second phase, including the initial airdrop on June 2, every owner of the physical shirt will also receive an NFT with a unique code denoting each shirt, which features Hirst’s signature mask and brain scan designs. Each drop takes place on Prada’s website for 24 hours only.

Best of Both Worlds

The Hirst family is no stranger to NFTs. Damien Hirst’s first NFT art collection, The Currency, minted in July 2021, allowed buyers to choose between owning a digital token or a physical item. For Prada’s NFT drop with Cassius Hirst, buyers get the best of both worlds.

Prada’s first NFT project in January this year, in which the brand collaborated with Adidas Originals to foster user-generated content and creator-owned art, also involved a well-known artist. New York City-based digital and new media artist Zach Lieberman compiled 3000 community-sourced minted NFT artworks into a single mass-patchwork NFT design for the project, which was later auctioned on SuperRare.

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Gucci to Begin Accepting Bitcoin in Some Stores

Luxury high-end international fashion brand Gucci is set to accept various cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ether, and even Dogecoin in some of its stores in North America.

Gucci will start accepting cryptos in five of its stores across the US later this month. The locations are New York City (Wooster Street), Los Angeles (Rodeo Drive), Miami (Design District), Atlanta (Phipps Plaza), and Las Vegas (The Shops at Crystals).

The stores will accept include Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Wrapped Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, and five stablecoins that are pegged to the US dollar.

Crypto Provides an ‘Enhanced Customer Experience’

According to Marco Bizzarri, president and CEO of Gucci, the brand is “always looking to embrace new technologies when they can provide an enhanced experience for our customers”. He added:

Now that we are able to integrate cryptocurrencies within our payment system, it is a natural evolution for those customers who would like to have this option available to them.

Marco Bizzarri, president and CEO, Gucci

Gucci has been active in the Web3 and NFT space and recently established a Web3-focused team and released a couple of NFTs. The brand is also extending its crypto efforts to the metaverse where it is developing digital real estate in the decentralised blockchain game The Sandbox. Further, Gucci is building a virtual “Gucci Vault” for Gucci-themed NFTs.

More and More Companies Accept Crypto Payments

Gucci joins a raft of companies that accept crypto as payment. Last year, Crypto News Australia reported that a real estate company in Los Angeles would allow its tenants to rent properties with Bitcoin, starting with the Grove shopping centre and other LA properties.

Many companies in Australia are also accepting cryptocurrencies as payments. You can now order a custom-built PC, buy dog food, design a custom home, get solar power and pay for almost everything in Bitcoin.

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Australian Fashion Week to ‘Take Crypto to the Catwalk’

Cryptocurrency exchange BTC Markets has been announced as an official partner of 2022 Afterpay Australian Fashion Week (AFW), and will take to the runway across various venues in Sydney next week with a haute couture dress that doubles as an NFT.

Dress Buyable as an NFT or Actual Garment

The dress, designed by eponymous Australian label CCO (chief creative officer) and founder Daniel Avakian, will be displayed virtually in animated avatar form and buyable as an NFT. It will also be displayed physically during AFW, from May 9-13, and available for sale as a real garment.

Caroline Bowler, CEO of crypto exchange BTC Markets. Source: news.com.au

BTC Markets CEO Caroline Bowler will speak at AFW on May 10 as part of a series of panel discussions involving “notable” industry leaders. In a statement on its website, AFW organisers announced how one of those sessions would focus on crypto’s role in fashion:

Fashion has entered the metaverse, with NFTs and augmented reality gaining popularity among consumers who want more ways to shop and engage with brands. The session will break down the fashion-tech trends.

Australian Fashion Week website

Female Crypto Investors Outstrip Men: BTC Survey

Bowler says BTC Markets’ association with AFW will help the company connect with the crypto-savvy women of Australia, a smart move considering the number of females signing up for crypto trading accounts has risen by 128 percent compared to last year. (The corresponding figure for men is 83 percent, according to the company’s own research.)

Fashion houses including Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Victoria’s Secret are no strangers to NFTs and the metaverse. In March this year, Decentraland hosted the world’s first Metaverse Fashion Week, with the participation of Paco Rabanne, Dolce & Gabbana, Tommy Hilfiger and other elite brands.

And last year, Australian venture capital firm Morgans Financial staked US$9 million on a local NFT fashion app for virtual showrooms.

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Diesel Jeans’ ‘D:VERSE’ NFT Project Drops on Rarible

Italian denim brand Diesel Jeans is set to debut its NFT collection, ‘D:VERSE’, on Rarible. The project’s goal is to offer customers a digital experience without completely straying from the physical, with the NFTs purchasable via crypto or fiat money.

No Universal Love for the ‘Phygital’

D:VERSE is Diesel’s newest platform and as of March 12 is the place to find NFT versions of the brand’s runway garments. The site will also be a hub where physical pieces can be purchased; hence ‘phygital’, as physical and digital collide, wordplay that not everyone seems to appreciate:

Anyone who becomes a D:VERSE NFT holder will also have access to the D:VERSE-KEY and the discord channel. The D:VERSE-KEY grants holders exclusive rights to raffles, metaverse outfits, NFT presales, and more.

Features of the first NFT release will include pieces from February’s Diesel FW22 runway show. Among them are a puffer jacket, a pair of sneakers, and a fur jacket, purchasable on a first-come-first-served basis in either crypto or fiat money. The public sale will last for 55 hours on the Rarible marketplace from March 12.

Fashion Retailers Queue Up to Launch NFTs

Everyday fashion retailers are taking the plunge into the world of NFTs as more and more brands launch digital collectibles. Earlier this year, even Crocs – “the world’s ugliest shoe” –  jumped into the NFT space and trademarked its intellectual property.

And popular US brand ‘The Gap’ has launched its NFT collection on the Tezos blockchain. The project collaborates with Brandon Sines, the creative mind behind Frank Ape, and will also feature a digital experience called ‘Gap Threads’.

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Decentraland to Host World’s First Metaverse Fashion Week

Fashionistas and crypto enthusiasts are coming together to celebrate Decentraland’s first World Metaverse Fashion Week, with the participation of elite brands in the industry including Paco Rabanne, Dolce & Gabbana, Tommy Hilfiger, and more.

The event takes place from March 24-27 on property owned by Tokens.com’s subsidiary, Metaverse Group, with Decentraland as host.

Fashion is a key driver of interest in the Metaverse and we are pleased to have such a high calibre of brands participating in the first-ever Metaverse Fashion Week. The event provides brands the opportunity to showcase NFTs and virtual products while expanding their consumer reach to a new demographic.

Andrew Kiguel, Tokens.com CEO and co-founder (Business Wire)

Crypto Fashion is Here to Stay

The rise of the Metaverse and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) has called the attention of not only hungry investors and financial institutions, but also several fashion brands.

A glimpse of how the future of style might unfold was provided almost exactly a year ago by Crypto Fashion Week, a celebration of on-chain digital fashion that brought together designers, artists and brands to showcase their products.

A number of brands have since committed to investing in the future of digital fashion. One of them is Ordre, a global online wholesale company based in Byron Bay, Australia, that raised US$9 million in Series B funding to expand its fashion services and accelerate the development of its blockchain-based platform and NFT technology.

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Gucci Moves into Sandbox Metaverse to ‘Host Immersive Experiences’

Gucci has announced plans to expand into The Sandbox metaverse. The luxury brand has bought an undisclosed quantity of lands within the virtual world in a project labelled Gucci Vault, and is seeking to appeal to Generation Z with the move.

Step Inside the Gucci Vault

The announcement accompanies a February 10 Twitter post introducing the Gucci Vault, which Gucci describes as an experimental space and is the brainchild of the company’s creative director, Alessandro Michele. Fans have already responded positively to Gucci’s corporate metaverse involvement:

In a blatant pitch to Gen Z, The Sandbox has stated that Gucci’s new endeavour is “inspired by childhood memories” and hopes to stimulate the conversation surrounding the metaverse and the designer fashion industry’s future. The company’s plans to enter the metaverse follow its mid-2021 release of a non-fungible token (NFT) collection.

The Gucci Vault Instagram account is up and running and while its posts remain cryptic, it is said that the project will also be a means for Gucci to sell vintage pieces alongside those from other notable designers. If you’d like to learn more about the Gucci Vault, the official Discord channel is now live.

Sandbox Moves from Strength to Strength

Gucci is not The Sandbox’s first partnership. The Ethereum-based game announced a collaboration last month with Warner Bros to launch the first music-themed metaverse. Purchasing lands within the game will allow the company to develop a musical theme park and concert venue.

https://www.sandbox.game/en/about/land/
The Sandbox lands description. Source: The Sandbox

The Sandbox token (SAND) skyrocketed at the end of 2021 as Facebook’s announcement of its rebranding to Meta had a butterfly effect on the industry. While the price of SAND is currently sitting at around A$6.25, further brand involvement could see it continue to rise.

By Lauren Claxton, Crypto News Guest Author

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Adidas Teams Up with Prada to Launch User-Generated NFTs

The worlds of fashion, design and crypto intersect in a new collaboration between Adidas Originals and Prada that will feature user-generated content and creator-owned art.

Adidas Originals and Prada have invited their respective audiences to contribute anonymised photographs to the non-fungible token (NFT) project on the Ethereum-compatible Polygon network.

Digital Artist to Create Mass-Patchwork NFT Design

New York City-based digital and new media artist Zach Lieberman will compile 3000 joint community-sourced minted NFT artworks into a single mass-patchwork NFT design. Contributors will retain full ownership rights over their individual NFT tiles, and participation in the project – dubbed adidas for Prada re-source – is free.

An example of Zach Lieberman’s interactive art. Source: the verge.com

Contributors whose tiles are featured in the final project will have the chance to earn a form of royalty on the secondary market, according to the joint Adidas-Prada release:

Owners of each individual NFT will receive a percentage of the auction sale of adidas for Prada re-source each time it is sold, in perpetuity. This new structure of shared ownership, made possible by Web3 technology, represents a cultural shift towards creator rights which is core to the crypto arts movement.

Adidas-Prada release

Proceeds to Go to NPO Slow Factory

The completed NFT will be auctioned on SuperRare with most of the auction proceeds to go to non-profit organisation Slow Factory, which purports to assist marginalised people “to become climate leaders through regenerative design, open education, and narrative change”.

The waitlist is open from January 24 at adidas.com/prada-nft.

The collaboration with Prada follows the success of Adidas Originals’ Into the Metaverse, its debut NFT project launched last month, which minted 30,000 NFTs to more than 21,000 buyers.

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Clothing Retailer The Gap Launches Tezos-Based Gamified NFT Collection

Gap Inc is collaborating with Brandon Sines, the artist behind Frank Ape, to launch a non-fungible token (NFT) collection on the Tezos blockchain with a gamified digital experience called Gap Threads.

This week’s release will offer a gamified digital experience in which customers can unlock the opportunity to buy digital art by Sines and a physical, limited-edition Gap hoodie. The digital collectibles for Gap Threads feature four levels: Common, Rare, Epic, and One of a Kind. The first level, Common, went on sale at 9am PT on January 13 for a reasonable price of 2 Tez (XTZ) each until 8:59 PT on January 15.

Additional drops will be available over the next two weeks: Rare on January 15 for six XTZ, Epic on January 19 for 100 XTZ, and One of a Kind will go to auction on January 24. At the time of writing, two Tez were worth US$8.30, but exact conversion rates may vary based on market price fluctuations.

Why Tezos?

As part of Gap’s commitment to do the right thing for the planet, it has chosen to leverage Tezos, an open-source blockchain, to create the customer experience. Tezos requires less energy and cost to operate than proof-of-work algorithms, thus making it an ideal platform for sustainable uses. The platform has recently been involved in collections from other consumer-facing brands, including Red Bull.

Gap intends to learn more about how customers want to engage in a digitally focused environment and has flagged additional digital experiences in the future, developed in partnership with cultural influences.

According to Gap’s chief digital and technology officer John Strain, “As part of our mission to create enduring customer relationships, our teams are constantly innovating. We are excited about the possibilities that a more planet-friendly blockchain technology can unlock for us and all the new ways it will enable us to connect with our customers.” 

The Future of Clothing is Here

NFTs are the perfect fit for the fashion industry, which is obsessed with authenticity and exclusivity. Chris Le, co-founder of RTFKT, has said that augmented reality will be a huge part of society in the future and that “you’re going to be walking out on the street and seeing NFT clothing on people”. RTFKT sold about 600 pairs of digital sneakers for US$3.1 million in just seven minutes last February at the inaugural Crypto Fashion Week.

Not everyone shares this view and many believe technology still needs more time before the big luxury brands dive in, according to RTFKT Studios co-founder Benoit Pagotto. If you also believe that the fashion industry is not quite there yet, and think the NFT market is overheated, you can short it.

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Crypto News Fashion NFTs

Future Thought: Buying Real Clothes Will Come With Digital NFT AR Replicas

It was inevitable that the fashion industry, obsessed as it is with authenticity and exclusivity, would be a perfect fit for non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

“I believe in a future where augmented reality will be a huge part of society,” said Chris Le, co-founder of RTFKT – pronounced “artifact”, and considered NFT fashion’s frontrunner – earlier this year. “You’re going to be walking out on the street and seeing NFT clothing on people.”

Back in February, the same month that saw the inaugural Crypto Fashion Week, RTFKT sold about 600 pairs of digital sneakers for US$3.1 million in just seven minutes. As for Le’s prediction on augmented reality, consider how AR clothing try-on – 3D digital clothing “fitting” a person as they move in real time, via their phones or other digital devices – is now almost here.

For fashion brands, AR try-on could unlock digital clothing sales, increase conversions and decrease e-commerce returns. It would also accelerate the widespread adoption of AR glasses, already in development by Snapchat, Facebook, Apple and others.

How AR Try-On Works

Here’s how AR try-on works: Unlike a static image that is retroactively fitted in a digital garment, it behaves the same way as Snapchat face filters: when your body moves, the item reacts in synch, responding to the wearer’s movements, measurements and environment in a way that appears to be realistic.

RTFK tests real-time AR try-on technology. Source: RTFK

A significant catalyst in the development of AR try-on has been the sheer number of people in Covid-enforced lockdowns across the globe over the past two years, according to Vlad Vodolazov, CEO and founder of clothing try-on app Clo-Z.

People were stuck at home, and that drastically influenced the way they were shopping, so brands are becoming less conservative in terms of technology and online tools to interact with their community.

Vlad Vodolazov, CEO and founder, Clo-Z

Big Brands Not Quite Ready to Wear

The technology still needs more time before the big luxury brands dive in, says Benoit Pagotto, co-founder of RTFKT Studios, which recently partnered with streetwear label StockX to sell physical versions of what was originally a digital shoe. In May, Silicon Valley investment firm Andreessen Horowitz invested US$8 million in the company.

The tech is moving quite fast, but it’s still not great. It’s good enough for people to understand where it’s going, but not good enough for most fashion brands, who are very serious about their content and need to respect their brand guidelines.

Benoit Pagotto, co-founder, RTFKT Studios

For many it’s just a matter of time, as the motivation and momentum are there. Snapchat, for one, thinks AR try-on technology can help brands reduce returns, one of the fashion industry’s most significant cost drags.

“We’re laying the groundwork for an improved online shopping experience,” says Snap CEO and co-founder Evan Spiegel. “We believe that helping people find the right size and improving the try-on experience will increase conversion rates as well as reduce the rate of returns.”

Bring it, or should we say, put it on.