7 Fashion Brand NFTs Bringing Web 3.0 to the Runway

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The world of fashion is always looking forward, so it’s hardly a surprise that it was one of the first industries to jump headfirst into NFTs. Labels have found inspiring new ways to make their mark on Web 3.0, either on their own or through high-profile collaborations on fashion brand NFTs with blockchain artists and entrepreneurs — in fact, Vogue Business found that 17 percent of the brands in its index had already worked with NFTs as of winter 2021.

If you’re looking for some inspo for bringing your own fashion label into the metaverse, we’ve got your back. Here are 10 unique fashion brand NFTs that have already made their mark, as well as some of the results of their Web 3.0 pioneering.

#1: Gucci – Aria

Famed fashion house Gucci made its debut among the NFT fashion brands with an exclusive, four-minute film titled Aria. The video features dreamlike landscapes as well as — naturally — garments from the Gucci Aria collection. The NFT sold for a grand total of $25,000 in June 2021, with all the proceeds going to UNICEF USA to support its role in “ensuring global equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.”

Beyond bringing in a sizable donation to charity, Gucci’s Aria NFT also landed the brand coverage in Gotham, Hypebeast, and many other publications, and the label followed up in May 2022 by announcing plans to accept cryptocurrency payments in some of its U.S. stores.

#2: Dolce & Gabbana – Collezione Genesi

Dolce & Gabbana went big for its part-physical, part-metaverse Collezione Genesi line — big to the tune of $6 million dollars. Despite the dizzying figure for a nine-piece collection, D&G wanted to make sure buyers got their money’s worth whether they would wear their piece in person or via digital avatar. For instance, The Glass Suit took thousands of hours to make by hand, using Swarovski crystal and Murano glass to create a shimmering, hyper-real effect. Other items, such as the Velvet Impossible Jacket, took advantage of its digital-only status to make a piece inspired by Venetian opulence.

Buying the NFT for each garment is only the start, as Collezione Genesi owners are also entitled to two years of “experiential access,” inviting them to partake in exclusive real-life couture events and other opportunities. On the metaverse side, collection owners are exclusive gold members of D&G’s new NFT community.

#3: Burberry- Blankos Block Party collab

Thomas Burberry founded his eponymously named London fashion house in 1856, and roughly a century and a half later, it sold its first fashion brand NFTs to block-headed digital avatars. Burberry partnered with Mythical Games to launch an NFT collection in the latter’s blockchain-powered online game, Blankos Block Party, starting in August 2021. Blankos Block Party is one of many games capitalizing on the growing power of the metaverse, though it’s particularly notable for introducing many new players to the concept of the blockchain.

Players are able to buy, sell, and upgrade their Burberry gear within the marketplace, commercing in familiar pieces of apparel such as armbands and pool shoes, as well as a jetpack. After all, what’s the fun of the metaverse if you just replicate what you can already have in real life?

#4: HUGO BOSS – BOSS x Russell Athletic

The NFT debut from HUGO BOSS was a real-life/metaverse crossover featuring American sportswear house Russell Athletic, but you couldn’t just buy one of the collection’s five varsity-style jackets — at least not at first. The jackets, which came with both a physical product and a QR code allowing the owner to don the same piece in augmented reality, were available exclusively to winners of the #BOSSMoves challenge on TikTok.

That challenge has been viewed 13.7 billion times as of this writing, and it played a part in propelling HUGO BOSS to the largest social media coverage in Fashion Week history. We never thought we’d be mentioning Russell Athletics, home of reasonably priced sportswear for athletes of all ages, in the same breath as Fashion Week, but the metaverse is nothing if not full of surprises.

#5: Balmain – Balmain x Barbie

French fashion label Balmain partnered with a different sort of fashion pioneer for an NFT line, with a different sort of physical counterpart: the Balmain x Barbie NFT collection dropped in January 2022, with three, extremely pink collectible garments. The principal part of each auction was for a digital Barbie or Ken avatar wearing part of Balmain’s new crossover collection, though each was accompanied by a one-of-a-kind, doll-sized counterpart garment — so you can dress up your own Barbie just like your avatar.

The initial auctions for the three fashion brand NFTs closed for just under $50,000 in total, each one easily eclipsing the Roblox-only digital Gucci bag which grabbed headlines as it sold for roughly $4,000 less than a year earlier.

#6: The Hundreds – Adam Bomb Squad

LA-based streetwear brand The Hundreds joined the crew of NFT fashion brands with Adam Bomb Squad. Over the years since its founding, The Hundreds has worked with artists to create dozens upon dozens of re-interpretations of its cute bomb mascot. Owning an Adam Bomb Squad NFT lets you stake out a little part of that history, with your own Adam Bomb sporting a unique combination of art style, background, and other details.

On top of the one-of-a-kind avatar, Adam Bomb Squad NFT owners also receive access to exclusive communities and The Hundreds products. The Hundreds co-founder Bobby Hundreds told NFT Now that the process helped remove “a lot of the fashion elements that we understand today and put the spotlight on the fact that it’s always been about human stories.”

#7 boohooMAN – NFT collection

Affordable menswear brand boohooMAN thinks fashion shouldn’t be the sole domain of those with ample disposable income, and it took that attitude into the metaverse with its first drop. The eight looks in its The Future Edit line are each one-of-a-kind fusions of modern, accessible design aesthetics with futuristic flair, showing off physically (but not digitally) impossible liquid metal T-shirts, pants, and more. Each one was free. Well, entering the contest to win one was free, anyway — it wouldn’t be much of an NFT if there were infinite copies floating around.

boohooMAN secured its status as the first fast-fashion brand in the metaverse with the drop. According to CEO Samir Kamani, the company has “great expectations for future NFT collections, collaborations, digital fashion pieces, games, and more.”

Now that you have ample inspiration for your own fashion brand NFTs, it’s time to start planning your big break into the metaverse. At dSphere we’re here to help. Our NFT SaaS platform was built to help innovators break into a newly connected era, offering the tools you need to start blockchain projects built for success. You can kick off multi-chain NFT marketplaces, make the most of NFT airdrop campaign management, and more. Get in touch today and we’ll be here to guide you every step of the way.

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