The NFT projects within the fashion world that you should not miss

If we had talked about expanding the fashion and luxury sector into the digital world twenty years ago, many would think we were crazy. It is only necessary to take a brief look at the past, when web 3.0 was born and there will be a unison No in the industry to build its portals e-commerce† It is surprising how in such a short time the textile industry has grown, there are no limits to the creative universe of designers and creative teams, let alone after the recent fashion week took place in the Metaverse of Decentraland. An event within this imaginary digital sphere with which the fashion world is once again expanding its wave of influence. But before we get into the matter what is this metaverse and what does it have to offer the fashion world? We can think of the metaverse as a new dimension that overlaps real life with the virtual world, let’s say as a recreation of human life, but at the web level, and that’s already in vogue. And how does it apply to the fashion industry? Via non-fungible tokens (NFT), a kind of virtual token that allows us to buy intangible clothes and wear them in different universes. Remember those video games where you dressed up your own virtual doll and circulated in the Sims’ imaginary universe? Well, something like that, but in a big way, with a lot more luxury, complexity and investment. Because if we had been aware of some proposals for non-replaceable tokens (NFT) in the luxury industry some time ago, such as Dolce and Gabbana Yes Jimmy Choo, as well as within the ‘ready-to-wear’ sector with companies such as Zara, Gap of Boohoo, after this edition of the ‘Metaverse Fashion Week’ the projects have doubled.

Mass companies like Mango o Zara were some of the new examples, with physical collection models passed to the Decentraland metaverse, along with the expansion of IKKS at that location, with a spectacular two-storey store, to the Italian firm HOGAN and its afterparty in the Metaverse. Large, small, surprising and creative NFT proposals with which the fashion world once again broadens your view, this time towards the imaginary scenario of the digital metaverse. Want to get to know some of the most ambitious projects? We tell you everything below.

Mango, one of Europe’s leading groups in the fashion industry, is entering the metaverse through art. With culture as one of its brand values, the company debuts in the NFT market with the release of three unique pieces of art created together with crypto artist Farkas. For a month, Mango will be exhibiting the works Mango Metagirl, Mango Ad Astra and Hanna in the Clouds, three unique pieces inspired by the brand’s physical clothing (the Lupi, Cinema and Mónica models, respectively) and representing the metaverse in the future and the artist’s own vision. The three NFTs Farkas created for Mango will be exhibited at coordinates 13.82 of Decentraland’s Museum District, where Mango will have its own space in which it will reproduce a museum.

In addition, Mango has also launched its first three wearables on the occasion of the Metaverse Fashion Week. The first, which has also had the collaboration of Farkas, will be a virtual reproduction of the Lupi dress, reflecting the Mediterranean values ​​and culture that characterize Mango. This NFT will not go on sale, but will become part of the company’s historic catalog. The group will also make two NFTs of a commemorative T-shirt (male and female model) from the first edition of Metaverse Fashion Week, considered collectibles. 50 units of both the male and female models will be made: 49 of them will be given away to those attending the virtual event and one will remain as property.

Exclusive, the fast-growing market for premium NFTs and metaverse activations, and the exclusive Italian brand Hogan announce their collaboration during virtual Fashion Week, in the Decentraland metaverse. There they will showcase the “Hogan Untraditional NFT Collection” at an exclusive “Hogan-X” afterparty on March 26. The event will feature the first dance competition in the virtual world, with prizes comprised of POAPs, pre-sale NFT ads and exclusive NFTs, and will be hosted by acclaimed superstar DJ Bob Sinclair. Following the inaugural “Hogan-X” afterparty, pieces created by NFT artists will be available for sale to the public on April 3, 2022 on exclusible.com. With this collaboration, Hogan speaks between the traditional and the non-traditional, from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0 and enables an open collaborative space of creativity for the five artists. Through this innovative approach that brings together diverse artistic minds and uses the brand’s acclaimed sneaker as a blank canvas with no creative constraints or restrictions, Hogan sets the standard for how the spirit of the Web 3.0 community should be presented, valued and communicated.

Innovation is the heart that moves IKKS: to be a free spirit is to show curiosity and be contemporary people, even anticipating ourselves. The opening of the two-storey flagship at the first Metaverse Fashion Week is therefore the start of a new challenge for IKKS and the perfect opportunity to communicate about the IKKS men’s clothing line, the new face and the flagship products of the new collection. In addition, during this virtual Fashion Week, IKKS has put up for sale four iconic branded garments in the form of physical and digital products via NFTs.

Zara continues her adventure through the Metaverse with the launch of her first solo Metacollection, designed to be worn both inside and outside the virtual world. LIME Glam It reminds us of psychedelics, endless nights and futuristic flashes and is designed to be enjoyed. This limited edition capsule contains clothing, accessories and makeup, and is complete with three digital elements: a wall, a floor and a photo booth, designed to enhance the whole experience. This project reflects a new way of thinking, a community that wants to push boundaries and embrace its unique identity and personality.

pronovias, the leading haute couture company in the bridal industry, once again demonstrates its commitment to innovation and digital transformation with creating a limited edition NFTs based on three of the dresses from her Versailles 2023 collection. This is a preview of the presentation of the collection that took place during the Pronovias parade during the Barcelona Bridal Fashion Week, on April 22 at 8.30 pm in the Italian Pavilion (Fira de Montjuïc). The brand has chosen to launch the collection designed by Alessandra Riunaudo, artistic director of the company, to unite art and bridal fashion in a new growing universe: the metaverse. To do this, Pronovias has selected three of its beautiful dresses from the new 2023 collection, inspired by the magic of Versailles, to transform them into limited edition intangible works of art. The three NFTs are uploaded to the OpenSea platform and can be viewed on the Pronovias website. How these NFTs will be offered to brides will be revealed once the Versailles 2023 collection hits stores in September.

This initiative marks the latest step in the company’s commitment to digital transformation and the latest advancement of a brand that has an industrial legacy of pushing the boundaries of innovation and pioneering novelty and change that spreads across products, sustainable design and technology. .

United Colors of Benetton makes its debut in the Metaverse. Accessible through the Roblox platform, the fashion brand combines the experience of the physical world and the virtual world through its new PlayChange store, an attractive and interactive brand initiative close to the end consumer, especially the youngest. The PlayChange store, which takes its name from the initiative’s launch campaign on the occasion of Milan Fashion Week in February 2022. The virtual space will be presented with the same refined and minimalistic “look and feel” used for the flagship store located on Corso Vittorio Emanuele in Milan. It consists of an invasion of pink that covers the entire surface, from shop windows to interiors, from hangers to shelves, naturally highlighting the hues of Benetton clothing.

Once visitors enter PlayChange, they can freely explore the area and discover a selection of iconic garments from the Spring Summer 2022 collection. Then, through three special portals, three different game worlds can be accessed: Pink it!, where the user has to touch the largest number of floating silhouettes and colors reminiscent of sheep between the sky, the clouds, the hot air balloons and the rainbow. Green Adventure, an unexplored “open world” forest where in order to survive you must avoid the bees that “fall” from above. And The Color Race, a race set in the desert where you have to follow a route marked with colored logos.

At the end of each game, a virtual card appears that allows the user who has obtained it to go to a physical store of United Colors of Benetton participating in the initiative, purchase and benefit from the discount obtained thanks to participating in the mini-games from the virtual store in the Metaverse.