NFTs and Luxury Fashion: A Conscious Coupling

Premiering on April 13, Gucci Town and Vans World's collaboration is the first of its kind on Roblox. The innovative user experience of Gucci Continuum allows customers to browse designers, collections, and art in a reinterpreted version of Gucci's past. For the collaboration, Vans has imagined a collection of sneakers that remind customers of a previous Gucci. Through the lens of an immersive scavenger hunt experience, Gucci Town x Vans World further links the creative connections between these two brands. As players move through the two worlds, they will find portals that resemble shoe boxes and are invited to scavenge for fabric swatches. After completing this journey, customers will then be rewarded with either a skateboard backpack or shoe accessories that can be worn by Roblox avatars. 

During Moncler’s 70th anniversary event in Milan’s Piazza del Duomo, Arianee, one of the leading Web3 solutions platforms for brands, announced its partnership with the luxury brand. Moncler will integrate Arianee’s NFTs and web-based custodial wallet solution within its ecosystem with the goal of offering a seamless experience to its most engaged consumers. Moncler is launching three NFT operations that are enabled by Arianee solutions: 500 NFTs associated with the Platinum colorway of the Moncler Maya 70 jacket; 500 NFTs offered to visitors at each location of Moncler's Extraordinary Expedition exhibition (2500 NFTs in total) in New York City, before moving to London, Seoul, Tokyo, and China (digital experience only); and 70 NFTs gifted to friends of the brand. 

On July 27, Cult & Rain, the first luxury Web3 fashion house, will host Cultr World, a party and interactive shopping experience. Creator George Yang is dedicated to merging the physical and digital worlds, so Cult & Rain designed four avatars, complete with digital luxury sneakers and varsity jackets, that will allow you to explore Cultr World. 

Salvatore Ferragamo has opened a concept store at 63 Greene Street in Soho, New York City to host an NFT booth installation and launch their customizable sneaker hologram program. The 256 NFTs will be free and are a collaboration with digital artist Shxpir. The sneakers, a unisex design by the brand named the 6R3ENE, are able to be customized by guests, the process of which will be projected onto the booth in partnership with DE-YAN via hologram technology. 

Burberry partnered with Mythical Games for a second NFT collection in Blankos Block Party. The newest NFT is a unicorn named Minny B who wears the new Burberry TB Summer Monogram. The brand will also offer in-game accessories and a bespoke space within the game named "The Oasis," inspired by the beaches of recent TB Summer Monogram takeovers.

Tag Heuer debuted the Connected Calibre E4 smartwatch, enabling users to display their collection of NFTs. The luxury watch can be securely paired with a smartphone to showcase NFT artworks in three unique ways. As the first of its kind, the technological accessory allows NFTs and digital identity to enter the physical world in a new and exciting form. 

Meet Gucci Town: the newest fashion capital only available on Roblox. Fans can visit the virtual piazza where they are able to partake in exciting digital activities like Gucci-inspired competitions, art experiments, and, of course, shopping for digital Gucci pieces to outfit your avatar.

In honor of the late founder’s 200^th 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 collectible NFTs, ten of which were designed in collaboration with major digital artist Beeple.  

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.

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.

Gucci marked its entrance into NFTs through 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.

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’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.

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.

MCM has changed the way the fashion world takes on the metaverse. The brand launched its own MCM-etaverse in tandem with the Spring/Summer 2022 campaign drop. Making it customizable and enjoyable for the user, MCM allows consumers to create their own avatars while shopping through the site.

Willy Chavarria launched an NFT with its Fall/Winter 2022 collection. As the brand dives further into the world of digital fashion, those who purchased the Fall/Winter 2022 NFT through Bubblehouse will have early access to all the new offerings from Willy's Love Club.

Gemfields, the global gem and ruby supplier, announced a series of six rhinos in its NFT collection last year. It was modeled after real animals from Zambia and was in honor of their Chipembele, the largest uncut emerald that holds the Guinness World Record. The money raised went towards the North Luangwa Conservation Program.