Luxury brand Dolce & Gabbana will launch a non-fungible token (NFT) collection in partnership with digital marketplace UNXD. The collection is called Genesi and will be promoted at Dolce & Gabbana’s upcoming shows Alta Moda, Alta Sartoria, and Alta Goilleria.
Luxury brands have been playing with NFTs for a while. Gucci was one of the first to partner with a platform to develop 3D clothing as NFTs and many others confirmed to Vogue that they were in the process of completing NFT deals.
Despite these claims, as yet, few high end fashion names have entered the NFT space.
One way to integrate luxury names in the digital world is through gaming partnerships. Digital fashion became popular with the rise of esports, as brands looked for ways to put their product on the video screen. Louis Vuitton released a digital fashion line with League of Legends.
Some experts in the industry believe that NFTs can be the next development of digital fashion, enabling gamers to own the garment in a digital space outside of the video game. Burberry was one of the first to launch an in-game clothing NFT collection in a partnership with Mythical Games.
Another implementation of NFTs in the fashion industry is giving them as gifts to special attendees in fashion shows. The Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode (FHCM) partnered with Arianne to give NFTs to selected attendees, buyers and journalists during Paris Fashion Week Men, and Haute Couture Week.
However, Dolce & Gabbana’s collection is nothing like Louis Vuitton’s digital fashion offer, Burberry’s clothing for game characters line, nor FHCM’s NFTs as souvenirs. This is a high end product targeted at the company’s traditional audience instead of the younger, crypto-wealthy gaming market.
The collection is focused on artistic traditions from Venice, where the fashion shows will take place. The first NFT to be auctioned is called “Dress from a Dream” and it is inspired by a dream from the designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. While the NFT may very well be beautifully designed, only active fans of the brand will likely be interested in owning a digital representation of the owners’ dreams.
UNXD is looking to position itself as a brand targeting luxury NFT deals. Every piece of the collection will be exclusively auctioned on the UNXD marketplace, which is powered by the Polygon Network.
Polygon is an Ethereum scaling solution that reduces the environmental impacts and costs of minting NFTs. WENEW, Beeple’s NFT venture, is also powered by Polygon.
