Sportswear brand PUMA launches its first ever metaverse experience at New York Fashion Week (NYFW).
Called ‘Black Station’, this 3D metaverse website will feature future NFT projects and aims to embody the future of PUMA, giving consumers new opportunities to interact with the brand via immersive online experiences. From 13 September, exclusive NFTs used to redeem limited edition physical sneakers are available as part of PUMA’s NYFW show FUTROGRADE.
There are many reasons why this project would be beneficial for PUMA. By launching Black Station at NYFW, this strategic positioning shows the brand wants to engage with both a fashion-forward and digitally savvy consumer base. Furthermore, designing it as an immersive Web3 venue allows PUMA to engage more with customers digitally, thus fostering community engagement and opening up new revenue streams via the metaverse.
This is not PUMA’s first foray into Web3. Earlier this year, Puma integrated NFTs in a sponsorship campaign with football club Manchester City, including limited edition NFTs of PUMA boots worn by footballer Sergio Aguero. In August, it announced an NFT collection with digital art brand Catblox. These NFTs guarantee holders access to PUMA’s Nitropass NFT tokens, which in turn, gives them access to the Nitro NFT collection launching at NYFW. The company also began a partnership Gutter Cat NFT collection in February of this year.
Other shoe brands have also launched NFT and metaverse ventures. Nike acquired NFT fashion startup RTFKT Studios last year and released CryptoKicks, its own customizable range of metaverse footwear. Adidas has also been active, launching AI-generated metaverse avatars and a NFT collection with BAYC.
NYFW this year is a hotbed for Web3 activity. One notable foray was NFTs released by the payments platform Afterpay. These gave holders tickets to exclusive runway events.
