What exactly are NFTs?
More and more brands are turning to digital trends to reach out to their audiences. Where many businesses are innovating how consumers experience their brand in the metaverse, others are dipping their toes into the uncharted world of NFTs.
Before diving into tech-savvy terminology, let’s talk about what an NFT is exactly. An NFT is a digital format artists and businesses use to create all sorts of digital art, including pictures, GIFs, videos, music, games, and in some cases, virtual land. Often, people write off NFTs as something anyone can have just by downloading the art.
While it may be true that art enthusiasts can download a piece of art, it’s important to remember it’s not the NFT itself. That’s to say, it is a copy of the NFT, but it is not the original. To demonstrate ownership of a piece of original art, owners can consult the blockchain technology that proves their connection to the artist and the piece.
To give a real-life example, owning an NFT is like owning Michelangelo’s David. While anyone can make an exact copy of it or take pictures of it, there is only one owner. In the case of the famous marble statue, that owner would be the Italian government, which has the corresponding documents needed to prove its ownership. The same principle applies to NFTs.
Similarly, in the fashion industry, owning original or limited edition pieces is part and parcel of what makes big brands like Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Burberry, and Hugo Boss as in demand as they are. The logical next step in their marketing strategy would be diving into NFTs, which favour and exude exclusivity.
Louis Vuitton Releases Video Game
To celebrate Louis Vuitton’s 200th birthday last summer, the emblematic brand released a mobile game app where players could learn about its rich history, play mini-games, and earn the chance to win Louis Vuitton NFTs, including postcards and avatars.
The luxury fashion house has announced that players who reach a certain amount of points will be given the opportunity to enter a raffle, which will end on August 4th of this year. Ten random winners will be awarded Louis Vuitton NFTs of the game’s main character, Vivienne, the company’s logo fashioned into an adorable mini humanoid figure.
Creating video games, which provide consumers with an intimate and interactive way to engage with the brand’s history and values, also puts the brand in favour of increasingly popular digital platforms and experiences like the Metaverse. Louis Vuitton appears to be taking the digital market and Metaverse by the reigns, its marketing strategy paving the way for other fashion houses.
Top Fashion Brands Embrace NFTs
Among many high fashion brands rushing to use NFTs in their marketing strategies, Burberry was one of the first to collaborate with the gaming industry. Joining forces with Mythical Games, Burberry created NFTs for Blankos Block Party, an online multiplayer shooter game. The NFTs feature a cute, human-shark hybrid surrounded by liquid silver and sporting Burberry logo print on its fins.
Another brand that has taken to the thriving world of digital art is Hugo Boss. Like Burberry, Hugo Boss collaborated with Boss Beauties to create an NFT in an effort to help young, marginalized women succeed in the workplace. The NFT depicts a classic white t-shirt, with a confident young woman in the centre. Both brands intend to auction the NFT online and with the earnings, fund their Dream Like A Boss programme, which will provide young women with the resources they need to succeed in professional environments.
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The Future of NFTs in Fashion
As experts, artists, and brands learn more about the Metaverse and the digital marketplace at large, it is still too early to tell in what direction NFTs will take art and fashion. In any case, it’s safe to say that in the few short years that NFTs have been accessible to the public, they have taken the market by storm.
Considering the incredible advancements Bitcoin has reached in under fifteen years, NFTs seem to be following a similar path, gaining more and more relevance at an accelerated rate. Whether they might seem like an outlandish idea that’s too difficult and intangible to imagine its practical use, there’s no arguing that the new digital format is here to stay. Especially for their valuable assets for marketing and PR strategies, NFTs have built a niche tailor-made for the fashion industry.