NFT-powered Digital Fashion Enters the Metaverse

Looking fashionable in a virtual world and item ownership the next big thing

Digital fashion will become the next frontier in the metaverse. The concepts of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and the metaverse are gaining popularity as more people discover all the potential. These ideas have already established themselves in art, gaming, and sports spheres. The next frontier? Fashion.

In the past several months, several fashion and cosmetics brands have recognized the opportunity that this space offers. This is why they’ve started creating and selling their own virtual products. The most notable among these brands are Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Nars Cosmetics.

NFTs, metaverse… What is it all about?

These virtual goods or NFTs are the building blocks of the metaverse – a 3D digital environment. Here, you can interact with other individuals, own and trade virtual items, real-estate, and more. This place would allow you to do all this (and more) but without the real-world constraints of physics, supply chain risk, or raw resource scarcity.

NFTs are unique tokens (opposite of tangible, like Bitcoin) that represent digital ownership and authenticity of virtual and/or material goods that users can trade, purchase, or sell. They exist on the blockchain, which guarantees the immutability, uniqueness, and authenticity of the items they represent. 

Despite being a relatively new concept, NFTs have already developed into a massive marketplace that allows you to buy unique virtual goods for actual money, including fashion pieces.

Fashion brands love the new asset class

NFTs present plenty of opportunities for luxury fashion and cosmetics industries, giving rise to platforms that turn these opportunities into a reality, such as Bitski. Bitski allows brands to make their own storefronts and sell (or auction) NFTs. The brands that have used Bitski to host their sales include Elf Cosmetics, Levi’s, Adidas, Rtfkt, and others. Its ultimate goal? To facilitate purchasing a physical fashion item alongside its digital version that you can wear in the metaverse.

In the autumn of 2021, Bitski will be joined by Exclusible. It is a platform where luxury brands can sell NFTs to customers who can then trade or showcase their purchased digital goods. Its buyers will be able to pay using cryptocurrencies and credit cards and will receive incentives via gamification and social elements. In addition to signing letters of intent with several high-end designers, the company has already raised $2.4 million in pre-seed money.

Exclusible isn’t the only NFT marketplace that supports credit cards. In an effort to bring more people, especially those in the fashion industry, into the metaverse, Truesy supports transactions via credit card. In fact, more than 85% of its transactions are paid this way. Its recent partnerships include Nars Cosmetics and Imran Potato, a fashion bootlegger who designed a Gucci Turtle NFT, as well as a Louis Vuitton Teletubbies animation. The purchase of each of the artist’s NFTs comes with a physical product.

The invitation-only resale platform Basic.Space that hosts NFT sales from various walks of life has recently sold a “Baby Birkin” NFT for $23,500. It features an animation of an Hermès Birkin bag with a baby developing and growing inside it. Basic.Space’s founder Jesse Lee has expressed the belief that NFTs and the metaverse would help luxury brands move forward.

Superrare may have started out as a digital art market, but it has since expanded its coverage to include Rtfkt’s digital hoverboards and one-of-a-kind digital puffer coat that was auctioned off for $19,762. The company’s management was attracted by the fact that this sort of AR fashion defies physics, allowing people to wear the craziest items of clothing if they feel like it.

The famed auction house Christie’s wasn’t immune to the appeal of NFTs and the metaverse, either. It has sold Gucci’s fashion film for $25,000, as well as hosting several other notable sales, showing its dedication to continue down the NFT path. According to Christie’s management, the company was attracted to the obvious appeal of the NFTs – the ability to create a token that can’t be forged, altered, lost, or burned, allowing people to own something exclusive, collectible, and rare.

More to come

We’re inclined to agree with Christie’s management’s conclusion on the allure of the NFTs. After all, they’re appealing to our innermost desires – to own something unique, that no one else in the world has. That’s evident in the cases of real-world artwork, luxury cars, and fashion pieces. 

Therefore, bringing these items into the metaverse opens an entirely new venue with countless possibilities for everyone involved – brands, shoppers, collectors, marketplaces, and NFT enthusiasts. Already there are preparations for new players entering the field, and we’re excited to see how everything pans out in the future.