Beyond new colors and must-have accessories, fashion brands today embrace NFTs, which led to the creation of Fashion NFT. NFT is quite popular for being confusing, and they are because they constitute many things at the same time. Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) offer people a method of establishing ownership. They are like a ticket representing an asset purchased using cryptocurrency. NFT is a part of ‘smart contracts’ because you pay royalties to the creator after reselling. Therefore, this makes it attractive to artists and businesses searching for new revenue streams.
Fashion is continually engaging with NFTs as digital fashion comes to the forefront. Fashion NFTs have branded clothing that only exists virtually. They could also be a digital twin of a physical item. Some of these items have practical use as they could be skins of an avatar in a gaming platform. However, some people simply buy fashion NFTs for the simple pleasure of purchasing them. It is an investment opportunity that’s slowly taking over. This article walks you through fashion NFTs and helps you navigate fashion in the metaverse. Without further ado, let’s take a look.
The Unification of Technologies
Metaverse is a revolutionary technology. However, it cannot operate independently as it is a part of several modern technologies like augmented reality, virtual reality, blockchain, and non-fungible tokens. These virtual technologies play a role in the ecosystem, and their unification creates the metaverse. The metaverse story begins with virtual reality, a computer technology that creates a near-to-reality experience for people. You can usually experience it through a head-mounted display. You have one foot in the real world and one in the virtual world with augmented reality. Therefore, it requires stimulating objects in the real environment. With Augmented reality, the computer uses algorithms to learn the orientation and position of the camera.
The metaverse uses an enlarged canvas of augmented reality alongside 3D graphics to create human avatars. These avatars live in a virtual world where people can interact, hold meetings, watch movies, and even feel others’ sensory vibes. People can also conduct business like buying virtual lands, shopping, and additional financial transactions. To facilitate these transactions, NFTs will be available.
Blockchain technology also enters the picture; it makes it easy to carry out secure transactions. In addition, it authenticates the ownership of the NFTs used in the metaverse. However, it’s unclear how valuable the metaverse can be to the human world. Despite this, many industries, including fashion, explore its benefits and usefulness. Hence, the creation of fashion NFT.
Fashion NFT – Fashion of Tomorrow
Due to store closure and remote working during the pandemic, fashion consumption declined significantly. Therefore, many fashion brands are switching to online platforms to sustain orders. Some fashion brands also switched to virtual shows to reach their customers. This move to embrace technology helped most fashion brands survive the pandemic. This resulted in fashion brands investing in many emerging technologies and depending more on digitization.
Fashion brands realize the role of technology in the future. Therefore, investing in futuristic technology is now a top priority for most brands. Many top investors predict that metaverse would prove more than a $50 billion opportunity for luxury fashion in the next decade. This would also include a $22.6 billion market opportunity for luxury fashion NFT.
Due to the increasing unification of the digital and physical world recently, this is quite realizable. This merging of the virtual world and reality will only increase in the coming years, and fashion’s involvement in the metaverse is one of the defining outcomes. With this prediction, many fashion brands are starting to join the metaverse.
Why the Entry into Metaverse?
Metaverse is a unique opportunity that holds many benefits for fashion brands. First, fashion brands can stand out from other competitors by investing in this technology. This allows the brands in the metaverse to position strategically for the future. As is the case for most new technology, these brands will include new additions to functional areas like communication, marketing, and PR. This is already apparent in the use of fashion NFT and 3D avatars for promotions and marketing.
As more brands adopt this new technology, digital fashion will grow in demand as products in the digital space will become unique. Additionally, these physical brands might start selling clothes that are only available and useful in the digital world. This move is sure to take fashion to a new level. Additionally, people expect clothes to become even more important in both worlds. As the metaverse becomes more involved in people’s daily lives, this won’t come as a surprise.
Crypto is fast becoming an alternate transaction medium, and therefore, it is sure to also meet the needs of the fashion metaverse. Many brands have begun utilizing fashion NFT in their brand of digital fashion. The target market of fashion in the metaverse is the younger generation. The major market will experience a rise and a desire to experiment with rising technologies. As many millennials and Gen Zs are into gaming, the metaverse is a great way to reach them.
Therefore, several fashion brands are utilizing the metaverse as their advertising method. The goal is to become a part of the gaming world effectively. An avatar in games wearing branded garments and accessories is more attractive to the younger generation than a brick-and-mortar store or a website. Additionally, some brands localize avatars to some geographies to further connect with the younger generation.
Fashion NFT – Recent Developments in the Fashion Metaverse
The fashion industry’s adaptation of digital fashion is helping fashion brands use fashion NFT and blockchain technology to verify, attract and connect with consumers worldwide. As a result, fashion NFT might feature in the French Fashion Week. Additionally, the Haute Couture Federation suggests partnering with a digital platform to create fashion NFTs you could exchange in the 2022 men’s fall/summer fashion week and more fashion exhibitions.
These fashion NFTs would allow users to view exclusive fashion that symbolizes a significant change. According to a survey, 50% of US consumers want to purchase a digital asset in the next 12 months. Therefore, the growing demand for this technology is evident. In addition, Gen Z continues to be the target audience that will significantly influence digital fashion. As metaverse grows in popularity, it will create new opportunities for brands to engage with the future-ready younger generation. When it concerns the fashion world’s development in the metaverse, you can see it in luxury fashion, sportswear, and designer brands.
Fashion NFT and Luxury Fashion
This adaptation of the metaverse began with the luxury fashion segment. They tapped into the new technology and created digital garments specific to virtual identities. An example is the luxury brand D&G, whose new Genesis collection included NFTs you can purchase and exchange in the digital space. This collection got $5.65 million at the end of its auction. This collection was hosted by the luxury marketplace that facilitates the connection and building of blockchains. Although several other brands worked with gaming platforms to create a fashion NFT, this is the first NFT directly from a fashion luxury brand.
Additionally, Gucci experimented with NFT when it released its first NFT product in 2021. However, this product wasn’t about fashion but a 4-minute film to accompany a runway show. The same month as the film’s release, Gucci collaborated with the metaverse and Roblox to launch a space known as a Gucci Garden. Gucci based this digital experience on an actual exhibition on a show in Florence.
This garden offered several themed rooms to pay homage to the various Gucci campaigns. In addition, players could enter a virtual lobby where their avatars could try on and purchase different items they could wear in the game. The virtual version of the Gucci Dionysus bag was sold for $4,115 on Roblox using over three hundred thousand Robux currency. However, this bag is not a fashion NFT and holds no value outside the Roblox world.
Balmain and Barbie also announced a new collaboration to create ready-to-wear fashion and accessories lines and NFTs. Louis Vuitton made its debut in the gaming world with the launch of Endless Runner. However, in 2021 it moved to NFT with the launch of a new game ‘Louis the Game.
Designer Brands
Another fashion industry segment to note in the metaverse is designer brands. Cohen is one designer that recently made a debut in the metaverse. To celebrate Pokemon’s 25th anniversary, Cohen collaborated with Selfridges to design an immersive digital shopping experience you could access through your phone. Besides strengthening its immersion in the immersive technology, it also helps Selfridges access different consumer bases through Charli Cohen.
Another designer that forayed into the metaverse is Rebecca Minkoff from New York. In 2021, Rebecca worked with a digital marketplace on 400 digital apparel to correspond with their collection and was featured at the New York Fashion Week. The gallery of the NFT was created by Yahoo, which works with the brand to create an NFT exhibition. The whole collection was built using Yahoo’s immersive platform. Minkoff has also worked with OnlyFans and Clubhouse and is a famous explorer of the digital world.
Fashion NFT and the Sportswear Industry
Sportswear is also part of the metaverse, and industry leaders like Adidas and Nike lead the movement. Nike made a notable investment in the metaverse by purchasing RTFKT, a virtual fashion platform famous for producing virtual sneakers. With Nike’s investment, the brand can continue to expand in the digital space and strengthen its capabilities. The brand also filed trademark applications for virtual goods in 2021.
Additionally, Adidas made it clear that it entered the metaverse when it partnered with Coinbase, a crypto-exchange brand. This helped the sportswear brand grab a space in the virtual world. Furthermore, Adidas announced that its next collection would be a mix of digital and physical items sold as NFTs.
Fashion NFT – Final Thoughts
Metaverse has a bright future in the fashion world, but the journey has just begun. Although digital fashion is growing, it won’t become real till technology is accessible to the public. However, this article helps you navigate the metaverse and fashion’s involvement with this emerging technology. We also touched on the fashion industry segment with a fashion NFT of their own. As more people spend more time online, metaverse popularity doesn’t seem to decline soon. So, it’s essential to explore its potential and the routes it provides to creativity and commerce.
