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How it started
In mid 2019, the metaverse started gaining the interest of luxury brands. Starting with collaborations between already existing and established games, brands like Moschino, Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs and Valentino began their first experiments with digital fashion.
What’s interesting is that, initially most of the brands entered the metaverse by launching virtual fashion through a collaboration. For instance, Moschino released a special Sims Collection. Jeremy Scott, creative director at Moschino, created a ready-to-wear line inspired by a blend of the brand’s classic design details with Sims’ aesthetic. The collection was also released within all of The Sims titles including The Sims 4, The Sims Mobile and The Sims FreePlay with more game-related features.
Another popular game for several fashion brands was Animal Crossing. In 2020, a barrage of brands announced their presence in this game, such as Marc Jacobs and Valentino. Whereas, Louis Vuitton announced skins within the League of Legends game.
Towards the end of 2020, the brands started developing their own games, starting with Balenciaga’s Age of Tomorrow game.
While always keeping it fashion, there are different approaches towards the metaverse. Some brands decided to sell non-fungible tokens (NFTs) whereas others gave users the opportunity to dress their avatar in designer clothes. Gucci was the first brand to launch an NFT in the form of a film called Gucci Aria.
To go even one step further, Louis Vuitton decided to launch a complete game on their own, which included virtual dressing of the avatar, NFTs to collect and a way to interact, play and enjoy time with the brand. Since gaming attracts a younger target group, luxury brands are aiming to steadily reach this demographic and make the brand more appealing to them.
NFT Launches in 2022
With so many NFTs on the horizon, it's safe to say that fashion's presence in the metaverse is growing. NFTs have taken the world by storm; it now seems almost impossible to go a day without hearing about this relatively new phenomenon. Here’s the list of some of this year’s biggest luxury NFT releases.
In collaboration with renowned digital artist Zack Lieberman, luxury brand Prada and sportswear giant Adidas came together for ‘adidas for Prada re-source’ project - a first-of-its-kind NFT collaboration that featured user-generated and creator-owned art.
On January 11, three Barbie avatars made by design firm FORGET ME NOT GMBH were auctioned on the NFT. The Balmain x Barbie collection was worn by these avatars and the highest bidders received the avatar as well as a one-of-a-kind real model.
10KTF Gucci Grail is a unique collection of personalized NFTs envisioned by Alessandro Michele and crafted by digital artisan Wagmi-san consisting of PFPs ('Picture For Proof').
Reuniting with UNXD, Dolce & Gabbana introduced the NFT series to an exclusive community. NFT owners will have a unique collection from the upcoming DGFamily Boxes series, which will serve as a gateway to various DG events and additional content.
In December ‘21, Hublot and Takashi Murakami released watches. In May 2022, the two came together for another collaboration, this time for NFTs. The Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami Sapphire Rainbow and All Black watches were turned into digital NFT artworks.
Burberry worked with Mythical Games to produce an exclusive Blankos digital vinyl toy for the Blankos Block Party game in June 2022. Additional Burberry NFT accessories are also part of the collaboration and will be available in the game. Those who wish can own this item through in-game purchases.
The debut of NFTiffs, a collection of 250 digital passes that can only be purchased by CryptoPunk NFT holders, was announced in August 2022 by luxury jewellery company Tiffany & Co. NFT holders received a real necklace and a pendant-like NFT, its design based on the owner's CryptoPunk NFT.
Article Image: Sims x Moschino, courtesy EA.com