Another Day, Another NFT. Yes, after Christie's auction of a purely digital work with a unique NFT, or Non-Fungible Token, hit the headlines in March, NFTs have multiplied, proliferating like mushrooms in different fields - from art and music to gaming.
A non-fungible token, as you may remember from previous posts is a distinct, indivisible, scarce and verifiable token on a blockchain network. Fashion hasn’t been immune to the NFT temptation: iconic model Kate Moss has created with anonymous artist collective Moments in Time three short videos of herself engaged in ordinary activities, that were auctioned off as NFTs (one of them sold for 5.1699 ETH or $12,495.65; while the other two videos are still available to prove maybe that NFTs collectors aren't so naive...); virtual brand RTFKT Studios created instead a series of collectible NFTs of super cool sneakers.
The latest brand to join the trend is Overpriced.™ Founded earlier this year by Impossible Brief’s James Zwadlo and Chris Levett with Leighton James (of electronic music production duo Adventure Club), Overpriced.™ focuses on high-end fashion and hopes to make a social commentary about the concept of value (the motto "Fuck Your Money" is emblazoned on the front of the hoodie in neon green graffiti font) in connection with art (a topic that seems to interest other contemporary art collectives at the moment, such as MSCHF).
After announcing the debut of its NFT-based collection, Overpriced.™ launched a hoodie with a (patent-pending) scannable V-code on the front of the garment. Thanks to the code, users can see the history and metadata of the item, wear the garment in virtual settings online, authenticate and show off their unique NFT through a pop-up image link on any smartphonee. If the design they have bought gets lost, stolen, damaged or sold, the V-codes will become invalidated and the user will receive a new hoodie, that, replacing the previous one, will become the authentic piece. The "First Edition" hoodie sold at an auction on Blockparty.co for $26,000 USD.
But there is more behind this project: Overpriced.™ conceives its NFT designs as ways to challenge fashion and luxury and play around with a series of concepts - wondering what's real, original, authentic and wearable art. Besides, the brand's NFTs are a way to look at the value placed in the digital token and not the physical garment.
Overpriced.™ boasts on its site of making "fashion for the crypto generation", a statement that should make the fashion industry worry.
Coronavirus changed the fashion industry, prompting many designers to opt for digital events and shows, or videogaming collaborations, but Crypto Fashion poses new challenges to brands, houses and fashion groups that have showed in the last few months signs of desperation and a persistent lack of original ideas.
Teaming up, collaborating, showing "safety in numbers" with collections made with artists or celebrities seem to be the strategies of many fashion houses and brands at the moment. A few examples? Earlier on this month, Tod's Group appointed Chiara Ferragni as a member of its board of directors, hoping the Italian entrepreneur and influencer with 23.3 million Instagram followers may help them reaching out to younger consumers and build solidarity and support projects for those in need (as if Tod's - that in the past launched several cultural and social projects including the restoration of the Colosseum in Rome and building a new manufacturing plant in Arquata del Tronto, hard hit by an earthquake in August 2016 - had suddenly run out of ideas and projects to sponsor...).
Gucci has showed some interest in the possibilities offered by digital wardrobes and recently released its own AR sneaker. To celebrate its centenary, the fashion house launched yesterday its latest collection - entitled "Aria" - in collaboration with Balenciaga's Demna Gvasalia. The result was a Guccified version of Gvasalia's extremely wide shouldered coats or infamous legging-boots.
Alessandro Michele at Gucci mentioned the fact that the collection was created to make it look hacked by Balenciaga, the final result is indeed a hybrid, a combination of two brands.
Yet the Crypto Fashion generation seems to have already got their own hybrids: living between a physical and a digital world, suspended in that in-between phygital state, Crypto Fashion fans may force traditional fashion brands to readapt and generate a new concept of luxury that incorporates also NFTs (in much the same way Overpriced.™ has adapted some of the techniques of the fashion industry for its products - the brand borrowed the drop system, for example, from streetwear icons à la Supreme and warned fans to follow its Twitter page to keep updated about their next releases). So, it looks like the rush for the next fashion NFT has just started and you can bet that it's only a matter of days before a powerful fashion house such as Gucci or Prada auctions off its first NFT.
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