nfts @ NYFW
By Nikki Wu
This year at NYFW, non-fungible tokens, or NFTs for short, officially made their debut at the center of multiple exclusive fashion houses and their shows. While NFTs are not walking in shows or making appearances at elusive afterparties, they are perhaps more exclusive than we think. Aside from the latest seasons’ designs from beloved designers, NFTs are officially in. But with all the discussion around the concept of introducing NFT and other Web3 concepts, it begs a few questions: what even is an NFT? And how can NFTs be applied in the fashion industry?
Let’s set the contextual groundwork: NFTs can be viewed as proof of purchase of a tangible or intangible item or service. The purchase of an NFT is a written contract that states the buyer is entitled to, or owns, a certain product. In the case of NYFW, NFTs were being used as purchasable digital keys that would grant the buyer entrance into specific fashion week events such as afterparties or showrooms. In partnership with Afterpay, a financial services company offering buy-now pay-later services, multiple digital keys in the form of NFTs were created to serve fashion brands, not limited to, but including ALTA, anOnlyChild, Jonathan Simkai, Kim Shui, and the Blonds.
Apart from being used as access keys, NFT art pieces were also gifted to all Tommy Hilfger show attendees; the pieces gifted were digitally-crafted, Warhol-esque images of Hilfiger himself holding a film camera — a tribute to Andy Warhol, one of Hilfiger’s sources of inspiration. With these NFTs attendees now own, they can choose to keep the art as any collector would or sell the NFTs on the secondary market for a significant upside.
With the popularity and demand for NFTs in the creative industry, what could their rise mean for the fashion industry specifically? Since Web3 developments are still in considerably early stages, the future of NFTs within the fashion industry is not exactly tunnel vision; however, what is for certain is that NFTs’ utility will definitely begin to make its impact on the fashion industry. Thinking back to the controversial Meta Birkin launch in 2021, the ownership over designs and the egregiously priced Meta Birken NFTs stirred up a storm of discussion within the fashion-business community. While most creatives took an opposing stance on NFTs in the industry specifically after the Meta Birkin incident, this year’s NYFW has proved that NFTs are making a strong comeback and are making waves in changing their perception.
Utility factors of using NFTs as keys or just as art collectible pieces are benefits that can be applied entirely in the real world; taking this concept further, the VeChain project, a NFT collection launched by LVMH, aims to take their designs into the metaverse. By including the NFT acquisition through a QR code that comes with the product, this product design will allow customers to purchase both the physical product and metaverse version simultaneously. Not only has this been applied with VeChain, but it has also been tested by Nike with their Air Max 1 shoes. While this project is still underway, there have been multiple non-luxury fashion brands that have already proven that such a product design is tried and true, leaving for major luxury brands to also potentially test out such a launch.
Whether the launch of metaverse fashion and clothing ends up as another fad is yet to be determined, but the utilization of NFTs within the fashion industry is an undeniable trend that has been on the rise since 2020. During this fashion month, we’ve seen plenty of unique Web3 developments. Unlike the typical fashion week, now many shows have taken to metaverse platforms such as Decentraland, where anyone with access to a computer and internet can attend the show with their personal avatar and virtually browse through shows including Tommy Hilfger, Roberto Cavalli, and Etro. Increasing accessibility to fashion events by opening up virtual showrooms and fashion shows, there is no denying that Web3 developments entering the fashion industry will eventually open up the historically exclusive industry to a larger demographic. In the same way that fashion microtrends take time, public support and critical marketing to develop into full-blown iconic eras of fashion, NFTs and technology-based themes being a recurring concept at fashion shows this year and might just end up like Levi 501s and Converse sneakers — here to stay for good.
Let’s set the contextual groundwork: NFTs can be viewed as proof of purchase of a tangible or intangible item or service. The purchase of an NFT is a written contract that states the buyer is entitled to, or owns, a certain product. In the case of NYFW, NFTs were being used as purchasable digital keys that would grant the buyer entrance into specific fashion week events such as afterparties or showrooms. In partnership with Afterpay, a financial services company offering buy-now pay-later services, multiple digital keys in the form of NFTs were created to serve fashion brands, not limited to, but including ALTA, anOnlyChild, Jonathan Simkai, Kim Shui, and the Blonds.
Apart from being used as access keys, NFT art pieces were also gifted to all Tommy Hilfger show attendees; the pieces gifted were digitally-crafted, Warhol-esque images of Hilfiger himself holding a film camera — a tribute to Andy Warhol, one of Hilfiger’s sources of inspiration. With these NFTs attendees now own, they can choose to keep the art as any collector would or sell the NFTs on the secondary market for a significant upside.
With the popularity and demand for NFTs in the creative industry, what could their rise mean for the fashion industry specifically? Since Web3 developments are still in considerably early stages, the future of NFTs within the fashion industry is not exactly tunnel vision; however, what is for certain is that NFTs’ utility will definitely begin to make its impact on the fashion industry. Thinking back to the controversial Meta Birkin launch in 2021, the ownership over designs and the egregiously priced Meta Birken NFTs stirred up a storm of discussion within the fashion-business community. While most creatives took an opposing stance on NFTs in the industry specifically after the Meta Birkin incident, this year’s NYFW has proved that NFTs are making a strong comeback and are making waves in changing their perception.
Utility factors of using NFTs as keys or just as art collectible pieces are benefits that can be applied entirely in the real world; taking this concept further, the VeChain project, a NFT collection launched by LVMH, aims to take their designs into the metaverse. By including the NFT acquisition through a QR code that comes with the product, this product design will allow customers to purchase both the physical product and metaverse version simultaneously. Not only has this been applied with VeChain, but it has also been tested by Nike with their Air Max 1 shoes. While this project is still underway, there have been multiple non-luxury fashion brands that have already proven that such a product design is tried and true, leaving for major luxury brands to also potentially test out such a launch.
Whether the launch of metaverse fashion and clothing ends up as another fad is yet to be determined, but the utilization of NFTs within the fashion industry is an undeniable trend that has been on the rise since 2020. During this fashion month, we’ve seen plenty of unique Web3 developments. Unlike the typical fashion week, now many shows have taken to metaverse platforms such as Decentraland, where anyone with access to a computer and internet can attend the show with their personal avatar and virtually browse through shows including Tommy Hilfger, Roberto Cavalli, and Etro. Increasing accessibility to fashion events by opening up virtual showrooms and fashion shows, there is no denying that Web3 developments entering the fashion industry will eventually open up the historically exclusive industry to a larger demographic. In the same way that fashion microtrends take time, public support and critical marketing to develop into full-blown iconic eras of fashion, NFTs and technology-based themes being a recurring concept at fashion shows this year and might just end up like Levi 501s and Converse sneakers — here to stay for good.