Unlike 2022, which was dubbed “The Year of Fashion NFTs” by Vogue, 2023 brought bankruptcies, scandals, and legal troubles to the cryptocurrency industry.
As a result, there were no Web3 and Metaverse appeals at New York Fashion Week this February. Still, in Milan, London, and Paris, luxury fashion brands Gucci, Dior, and Louis Vuitton continued to embrace cryptocurrencies, but chose to drop the terminology.
As we enter the Spring 2024 season, the question remains: Are cryptocurrencies still “in”?
The fashion industry's answer is two-fold. Although the word “crypto” has been deprecated, crypto (technology) is very popular.
The relationship between fashion and cryptocurrencies – from quiet luxury to “quiet technology”
In 2021, the fashion industry welcomed non-fungible tokens (NFTs – the official product of the blockchain industry) as flashy luxury goods: digital complements to complete physical catalogs. NFTs added about $50 million to the revenues of Gucci, Tiffany & Co., and Dolce & Gabbana, before declining sentiment toward cryptocurrencies ushered in a new era: “silent technology.”
If “quiet luxury” means understated elegance, quality and practicality, “quiet technology” means “hidden” projects with real value for fashion. As we move into 2024, the “loud luxury” of NFTs may no longer be talked about, but investments in experiences, authentication, and “digital-physical” use cases will soon be.
Today's fashion and cryptocurrencies
Dior set a precedent in June, releasing a sneaker with breakthrough insole reliability enabled by blockchain, but with no mention of Web3 or cryptocurrencies. Louis Vuitton and Gucci soon followed suit. Gucci first shared its runway show in the digital world, renamed “Ancora,” and Louis then launched a Discord server, “Via,” enabling connections between the community and NFT holders in September.
In both cases, technology took a backseat to practicality. Gucci's Ancora show used digital space to realize its vision of a rain-free global show, and Louis Vuitton's servers showcased exclusive content to build community.
As Alexandra Maslova, founder of digital fashion startup Seamm and a speaker at the Digital Couture Summit in February of this year, told me in an interview, brand interest in cryptocurrencies is not going away; It has been changed.
“Brands experienced ‘fomo’ in 2021, 2022. They jumped into cryptocurrencies, but they didn’t get the results they expected,” Maslova said. “Now they're taking things slower, still adopting new technology, but investing in what's actually working and what's not.”
evolving relationship
Blockchain industry players are aware of this change and are taking advantage of it.
“We want to create accessible experiences, and we think cryptocurrencies are a powerful way to unlock many experiences,” says the founder of “digital-physical” brand IYK. one Christopher Lee told me in an original interview this fall. Details and names when collaborating with brands. ”
Digital Twins Studios, a blockchain fashion consultancy known for working with traditional fashion brands such as Alo, agreed: “We believe this technology works under the hood.” “Abstracting the underlying technology creates easier use cases,” co-founder Adrianna Soto-Wright said in an interview.
On the other hand, in the fashion industry, CEOs and heads of famous fashion houses such as Prada, Gucci, and Dior focus on experience rather than jargon.
“Fashion needs to evolve and move away from the runway and focus on the experience as an industry,” Stacey Bendet, CEO of Alice & Olivia, said last September. .
From highly technical to experiential
The shift to experiences is forcing brands to be more creative when implementing cryptocurrencies. While 2021 and 2022 were punctuated by high-profile launches and appointments, including vice president of Metaverse at Gucci and head of Web3 and Metaverse at LVMH, 2023 and his 2024 's investment in Web3 was modest but exciting.
One of the best examples of this is the “Gucci Ancora” (translated as “Encore”) show at Milan Fashion Week in September 2023. Gucci's 'Dream Big' division, representing Gucci's investments in his Web3 and Metaverse, delivers real-world-like events across his three Metaverse platforms with a friendly onboarding experience for all Did.
The team employed references to real physical spaces taken from Milan's Brera district to help draw participants into its immersive world. No technical know-how required.
At the Digital Couture Summit (an event for technology-oriented fashion professionals) held in Milan in February 2024, a consensus was reached that technology was not the only important factor in the next era of fashion and technology, and the event was created. Mr. Nikita Shikaluk, a member of the Board of Directors, emphasized this in an interview during the summit. .
return to the physical world
Even in the subdomain of “phygital” fashion (a term often used to describe physical products with digital components), products are moving toward “quiet” and discreet branding.
“I think we try to not include too many technical terms, recognizing that they are just implementation details” – referring to their products as “digital-physical” rather than “physical” When asked about the choice to describe it, Lee said: . “I also didn't like the pronunciation.”
Phonetics aside, more and more projects are returning to the “physical world” and NFTs are taking a backseat.
In June 2023, Louis Vuitton introduced a series of digital “Treasure Trunk” NFTs that allow users to purchase special physical pieces. Gucci similarly made headlines by twinning physical ceramic structures with digital artwork NFTs. Prada even went so far as to use NFTs as a pass to Milan Fashion Week in September.
credibility
Perhaps the most practical “silent technology” trend in fashion is the use of blockchain as an authentication tool.
Chanel was an early adopter of blockchain-enabled authenticity, quietly replacing its printed authenticity cards with blockchain-enabled NFC microchips in fall 2021. In 2022, LVMH, Richemont, and the Prada Group came together to form the Aura Blockchain, a non-profit partnership. Consortium – with the clear goal of using blockchain to combat the growing counterfeit industry.
Looking to the future
Enthusiasts in the world of “quiet technology” express optimism about the sector.
Lior Cole, founder of IMG Models and Technology and known for straddling both industries, sums it up well in an original interview: — It’s only a matter of time before something makes blockchain “click” as fashion. ”
What is that “something”? Judging from 2023, the word “blockchain” itself may become obsolete.
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