HUGO, the youth fashion brand of Hugo Boss, announced a collaboration with Web3 company Imaginary Ones, with plans to launch an NFT collection of 1,001 3D animations in early November. This extends the existing Imaginary Ones NFT collection of 3D characters, which aims to evolve into a metaverse experience.
In line with the Hugo Boss branding which promotes self-expression, this collection takes on the theme of mental health awareness and is entitled ‘Embrace Your Emotions’ (EYE). Six of the NFT characters will represent emotions, including joy, sadness, anger, fear and love. One character embodying all five emotions will be released for auction on World Mental Health Day, with the proceeds donated to the charity Youth Aware of Mental Health (YAM).
This venture shows that the company plans to engage with the metaverse while incorporating its ethos of self-expression. All this will impact how the brand is perceived by a digitally savvy consumer base, setting it up to profit from the growing intersection between fashion and the metaverse. Considering that Morgan Stanley estimated that luxury goods in the metaverse could boast revenues of €50 billion by 2030 ($60bn), this NFT collection is a key creative and business opportunity for Hugo.
“The metaverse is an exciting new space for fashion brands, one that is rich with potential for HUGO,” said Miah Sullivan, SVP of Global Marketing & Brand Communications at HUGO BOSS. She said it “enables us not only to further explore this virtual world, but also to share a message of self-acceptance and being true to yourself, which is at the heart of what HUGO stands for.”
For Imaginary Ones, this collaboration with Hugo allows the company to strengthen its presence among mainstream retail brands. Other NFT companies have made this commercial leap with fashion brands. Nike acquired RTFKT Studios while NFT projects by Prada, Dolce & Gabbana and Gucci have all given prominence to the NFT platforms they collaborated with.
