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Adidas is launching a first-of-its-kind residency programme designed to foster Web3 artists, with the goal of creating artist-rendered digital products and NFTs.
Called ‘Residency by Adidas’, the programme is part of the brand’s Three Stripes Studio (or /// Studio), which was announced in January to oversee Adidas’s Web3 efforts. The residency will showcase the work of a number of global digital artists, who will collaborate with Adidas on both digital and physical items and participate in drops of limited-edition NFT art.
The first sale will open on 6 September, timed to the Korean Blockchain Week conference in Seoul, with four NFT artworks commissioned by Adidas and created by the residency’s first participating artists: Tokyo-based MonkeeMoto (whose identity is anonymous) and Lebanese artist Adra Kandi, who goes by Dear Nostalgia. Though it’s not Adidas’s first foray into NFTs, the sale marks the sportswear brand’s first limited-edition art sale. Two hundred pieces (100 from each artist) will be sold only to conference attendees for ETH 0.15 (about $250), and come with a physical hoodie, branded with the Three Studios logo.
There will also be an open-edition sale, with NFT art available at ETH 0.03 (about $50); it does not include the physical hoodie. Both are sold via minting platform Manifold, which enables both cryptocurrency and credit card transactions.
“This project is another big step for our Studio as we continue to explore, experiment and diversify our impact and value in the Web3 community,” said Stacey King, global head of communications and activation for the Three Stripes Studio, in a release. She added that the success of previous open editions in Berlin and New York inspired the studio to go “all in” in terms of engaging artists in the Web3 community. (These previous NFTs were digital artworks created with Adidas and sold as NFTs in unlimited quantities to coincide with Web3 conferences this spring.)
King says that plans include digital, physical and linked drops to follow in parallel to the ongoing ‘Alts by Adidas’ project, which is Adidas’s ongoing Web3 fashion effort. (The residency is not a part of Alts.) Alts was announced in April 2023 and positioned as an extension of Adidas’s ‘Into the Metaverse’ strategy, which was introduced in December 2021 and included access to physical items; perks of Alts ownership include digital wearables and access to a special Discord channel and physical events. Adidas has also dressed PFPs in digital Adidas and offered a digital-only jacket collection, which it showcased at Metaverse Fashion Week in April, among other projects.
Rivals Nike and Puma have also been enthusiastic participants in Web3, as sneakers are a core category of interest to the Web3 community. Fostering digital artists and community “co-creation” have also become key themes in fashion and Web3. Nike’s ‘Dot Swoosh’ Web3 platform, announced in November 2022, is slated to include the option for people to design and sell their own digital sneakers.
Adidas has been in turbulent waters recently, having had to reconcile the fallout of Kanye West amid a successful ongoing collaboration featuring popular Yeezy footwear. It also recently poached Puma CEO Bjørn Gulden, who started in January, after a series of setbacks. Meanwhile, Adidas is currently recruiting someone to lead communications of the Three Stripes Studio, with duties spanning Web3 and gaming.
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