2022: A year of fashion NFTs
Branded NFTs took off this year, with big buy-in from brands such as Gucci and Prada testing out various approaches. Here's what we learned through an analysis of the Vogue Business NFT Tracker.
It’s been a big year for fashion and beauty NFT drops. Over the last 12 months, not only have more brands come on board and more fashion-focused Web3 startups launched, but they’ve evolved their NFT strategies to focus less on short-term monetary value and more on long-term, holder-focused perks as the value of crypto plummeted more than 60 per cent.
The Vogue Business NFT Tracker charted the most significant drops of the year from established brands including Gucci, Balmain and Prada, and Web3 startups such as Rtfkt, 9dcc and DressX, reflecting how the space quickly adapted to fit both economic and community demands. Some even established Web3 strategies with multiple NFT drops, reflecting learnings from 2021’s inaugural experiments.
They began the year — when ETH 1 was still worth more than $3,000 — by rewarding early collectors with high resale values. In January, Adidas and Prada crowd-sourced consumer-submitted photographs to be minted into NFTs that the original creator could then flip (if they wished).
One-off drops soon expanded with phygital elements, offering access to physical products and events, or to future drops, products and events. February’s Supergucci drop from Gucci and Superplastic, for instance, came with physical ceramic sculptures and access to future events and drops. The former Parisian boutique Colette and cyclopean avatar project Darcel Disappoints rewarded NFT buyers with a custom phone cover and a Dour Darcels hoodie in March.
As NFTs became more mainstream, brands began to offer more longer-term utility, often linked to experiences and membership programmes. Prada’s monthly physical Timecapsule collection drops are now linked to NFTs since June. These grant access to global Prada Crypted and Prada Extends events (in addition to a Discord server and future drops). Rebecca Minkoff and Mavion holders got access to fashion week tickets. This month, the CFDA took this type of utility to the next level, offering holders of one-of-one branded NFTs the opportunity to meet the designers, attend shows and other experiential perks. This type of utility wasn’t without hiccups — both Keys to NYFW and Markarian NFT holders who were promised show access during New York Fashion Week were ultimately unable to attend, demonstrating the legwork still to be done in ensuring utility fulfilment.
In August, Cryptopunk holders were granted full commercialisation rights to create products based on their individual artworks, following in the steps of Bored Ape Yacht Club (also owned by developer Yuga Labs, which acquired Cryptopunks in March). Projects later in the year incorporated existing NFT IP. Tiffany’s Cryptopunk pendant release is perhaps the most notable, but many other drops, including Tag Heuer, Hndsm, 10KTF and Timex tapped into the PFP fashion trend, creating offerings personalisable to holders’ Punks, Apes and World of Women characters.
Similarly, many brands tapped into other existing Web3 communities to get a head start: Wrangler gave away 20 pairs of vintage NFC-chipped jeans in partnership with PFP collection Deadfellaz, while Champion Athleticwear gave digital apparel and accessories to some Non-Fungible People PFP NFT owners.
One trend that remained popular throughout was charitable donations; many brands used the opportunity to divert at least a portion of the funds to philanthropic organisations. Proceeds from Vogue Ukraine and Vogue Singapore’s collaborative drop went toward Save The Children Ukraine. Dion Lee donated a percentage of its first NFT drop’s proceeds to the women’s reproductive rights assistance project (WRRAP). Azuki’s secondary market sales royalties went to Stand with Asians.
Some brands got creative. Paco Rabanne used NFTs of its highly-conceptual archive pieces to fund its physical archive restoration. Guerlain sold NFTs to support a rewilding project in a French nature reserve. Rtfkt collaborated with perfume brand Byredo on a digital aura, allowing collectors to customise scents in both the digital and physical realms. Xtended Identity offers a digital wearable rental programme, so that shoppers can try out (and on) NFTs without having to commit to ownership — or the price tag.
See below for some of this year’s notable NFT drops, as seen in Vogue Business’s weekly NFT Tracker.
Photo: Adidas for Prada1/29Adidas and Prada
Starting 24 January, Adidas and Prada crowd-sourced 3,000 consumer-submitted photographs, selected by raffle, to be minted into NFTs for free for the original creator to own and sell if they wished. All images were combined into a patchwork NFT to be auctioned and displayed in Prada and Adidas stores.
Photo: Gucci2/29Gucci
Gucci partnered with animated celebrities company Superplastic for “Supergucci”, which included a three-part drop of 10 unique NFTs that came with physical ceramic sculptures, via superplastic.co and Gucci Vault. The drop coincided with vintage pieces from Gucci Vault, which launched on 1 February.
Photo: Courtesy of the Institute of Digital Fashion3/29Roksanda
In February, Roksanda created an NFT for fashion week in partnership with the Institute of Digital Fashion. It was a shoppable digital version of the label’s demi-couture final look (a sculptural gown in geometric print). It was available for AR try-on via an Instagram filter and sold in various versions on Roksanda.com from the morning of the show. Prices ranged from £25 to £5,000 based on rarity. It marked the first time an NFT was shoppable on a luxury brand’s website in pounds rather than in crypto, the brand said at the time.
Photo: Weinsanto4/29Weinsanto
Weinsanto launched its first phygital NFT powered by Spin, which the brand said was fully circular. The first NFTs sold along with physical pieces from designer Victor Weinsanto at Paris’s Dover Street Little Market provide authenticity, provenance and life cycle details, accessed via a clothing label QR code.
Photo: Decentraland5/29Metaverse Fashion Week
The blockchain-based experience took place in March, and brought together mainstream fashion brands including Etro, Dundas and Dolce Gabbana and digital upstarts such as Auroboros. The inaugural event had both hits and misses (particularly in its technological limitations), but set the stage for this year’s Metaverse Fashion Week.
Photo: Gudu6/29Vogue Ukraine and Vogue Singapore
The sister titles created a “Fashion for Peace” collaboration with six artists to sell 50 editions of various designs at ETH 0.5 (approximately $1,282 at the time) each on Opensea from 15 March. Proceeds from primary and secondary sales were donated to Save The Children Ukraine.
Photos: Louis Vuitton7/29Louis Vuitton
In April, Louis Vuitton released new NFTs as part of its Louis: The Game app. They resembled PFPs and were free as rewards for players who downloaded the game.
Photo: Courtesy of Paco Rabanne8/29Paco Rabanne
Fashion house Paco Rabanne launched NFTs in collaboration with Selfridges in late April and used the profits to finance additions to the house’s archive. Prices for the 56 NFT dresses started at £600 each, centred on 12 conceptual, opulent show pieces from early Paco Rabanne. The NFTs featured in a specially designed Selfridges.com experience.
Photo: NFT Now/BFA9/29Nike x Rtfkt
From 25 May, people who owned a Space Drip NFT from Rtfkt could “forge” 19 different designs of physical Nike AF-1 sneakers for ETH 0.333, approximately $675 at the time.
Photo: 9dcc10/29Gmoney
The Web3 influencer and investor’s “Admit One” free mint on 25 May was open to “curated parties” and POAP holders for four days, granting access to his “universe of IP”, aiming to be hype-free, without a roadmap, and used to gauge collector loyalty.
Photo: The Fabricant11/29The Fabricant
The digital fashion house launched NFTs as part of its digital fashion initiative Wholeland. These wearable digital accessories are keys to participate in each chapter of Wholeland, which will include NFT drops, Web3 experiences and collaborations with brands and digital artists.
Photo: Prada12/29Prada
NFTs tied to its limited-edition Timecapsule product drops (on the first Thursday of every month) are available for 24 hours. On 2 June, up to 100 gender-neutral shirt designed in collaboration with artist Cassius Hirst came with a free NFT. Anyone who previously bought Timecapsule pieces were gifted NFTs, giving access to perks revealed on a new Discord server “Prada Crypted”.
Photo: Byredo and Rtfkt13/29Rtfkt x Byredo
Digital fashion startup Rtfkt and luxury fragrance brand Byredo partnered on a perfume for Web3. The collaboration included a digital “aura” and the ability for collectors to customise and buy physical fragrances by merging NFTs.
Photo: Burberry14/29Burberry
The British luxury brand brought back its NFT-based Blankos Block Party game in June. It introduced a new unicorn character, new accessories including a boom box, gold horseshoe chain and a “shellphone” and a branded virtual world in the form of a floating virtual oasis.
Photo: Clinique15/29Clinique x NFP
The cosmetics brand partnered with the NFT collection to offer virtual makeovers in a bid to bring more diverse representation to the metaverse. Clinique randomly airdropped NFTs to 1,968 holders of Non-Fungible People NFTs each month for three months starting in July. The people who received a Clinique NFT could choose to “burn” it in order to reveal the Clinique skincare and makeup look, which was then applied to their PFP avatar. This was Clinique’s second NFT project.
Photo: Courtesy of Mavion16/29Rebecca Minkof x Mavion
US brand Rebecca Minkoff released two NFT drops with fashion NFT project Mavion.world. The first in July was 55 NFTs; five unlocking benefits, including physical accessories and fashion week tickets. The second followed in October, for a 3,000-piece drop of unique NFT artworks featuring Minkoff bags. The lottery-style drop took place on 12 October and involved tiered access for approximately ETH 0.1 ($172). All 3,000 holders were able to contribute to two physical handbag designs, but 400 of the 3,000 received a physical bag — if they held two NFTs, and these turned out to be a pair, with the artwork reveal (which also revealed the “winners” of the physical bags) about a week after the mint. All “Rebecca Minkoff x Mavion NFT” holders will also receive access to seasonal perks and royalties from future metaverse and gaming collabs.
Photo: Rtfkt17/29Nike x Rtfkt
Following Nike’s December 2021 acquisition of Rtfkt, they dropped a black NFC-chipped, AR-trackable hoodie in July. The Rtfkt x Nike AR Genesis hoodie was available only to holders of its 20,000-strong avatar collection, called CloneX, and holders of Cryptokicks.
Photo: Azuki18/29Azuki
In May, NFT brand Azuki airdropped 10,000 tokens of a Twin Tigers Jacket to their holders. On 19 July, Azuki made the physical jackets available to be redeemed, making it their first apparel drop. These were redeemable for a reversible physical jacket inspired by 1940s Sukajan jackets, for 30 days only. Royalties from the secondary market supported Stand with Asians.
Photo: Tiffany19/29Tiffany Co
Tiffany entered the Web3 space with 250 limited edition Cryptopunk-inspired pendants. These were available via an NFT pass evocative of the jeweller s famous blue box. From 5 to 12 August, Cryptopunk NFT profile picture owners were able to purchase an “NFTiff Pass” for ETH 30 (about $52,000 as of 28 July) on nft.tiffany, which connects to owners’ digital wallets. Each Cryptopunk was interpreted by Tiffany designers into custom pendants, featuring at least 30 gemstones and an engraving of the Cryptopunk series number and Tiffany logo on the back. Digital renderings of the pendant were expected as NFTs in December, and the physical jewellery will be delivered in early 2023.
Photo: Justin Aversano Courtesy of 9dcc20/299dcc
On 23 August, the Iteration-01 release from Gmoney’s luxury label 9dcc opened for 72 hours, offering 1,111 NFTs for ETH 0.3 (about $510 at the time) tied to NFC-enabled T-shirts. The drop — 9dcc’s first — was available exclusively to Admit One holders (one per holder for the first 48 hours, then up to 10 for the last 24 hours). Once minted, owners could choose to either receive the physical product or “vault” it. In late September, owners were airdropped a voucher NFT from tech startup 4K, which gave them the option to use the voucher to enter their delivery address and receive the item, or to keep it in a vault for safekeeping.
Photo: Wrangler x Deadfellaz21/29Wrangler
The denim brand partnered with Web3 media brand and NFT collection Deadfellaz on a play-to-earn drop. Deadfellaz community members participated in the creation of a comic book strip. This choose-your-own-adventure interactive storyline was enabled by Web3 platform Ltd.inc. The final comic strip was announced on 26 September, and two days later, 20 story engagement winners received a pair of NFC-chipped Wrangler jeans that link to an NFT of the comic strip. When scanned via the Ltd.inc app, the NFC chip links to on-chain proof of ownership and access to digital content and communities.
Photo: Balmain22/29Balmain
Balmain launched a Web3 hub at Paris Fashion Week. Called Balmain Thread, the NFT-based membership programme was developed in partnership with MintNFT. The goal was to bring together the brand’s NFT projects to date, and to open access to exclusive products and experiences to members of the community.
Photo: Puma23/29Puma
At New York Fashion Week in September, Puma debuted physical versions of its NFT sneakers. To acquire the physical sneakers, holders could burn their Nitro Pass to redeem two NFTs. One (called Materializer) could be used to get the shoe; the other (called Nitro Collection) gives access to future Web3 experiences.
Photo: Hugo Boss24/29Hugo Boss
In partnership with NFT collection Imaginary Ones, Hugo Boss’s Gen Z-geared brand Hugo, dropped a new collection of NFTs, comprised of 3D characters that are designed to raise awareness around mental health issues. The collection was made up of 1,001 NFTs, titled “Embrace Your Emotions” (EYE), and was dropped in early November. NFT holders get access to merch, token-gated experiences and future drops, plus a 10 per cent discount on certain Hugo purchases over a 10-month period. To access a Hugo x Imaginary Ones EYE NFT, 500 allowlist spots were allocated to those who buy a phygital Hugo limited edition T-shirt, and the remaining 500 were available to existing holders of Imaginary Ones’s genesis NFT collection, and those who took part in wellbeing-related activities announced on Imaginary Ones’s Twitter and Discord platforms.
Photo: Gucci25/29Gucci
In October, Gucci Vault Land opened in The Sandbox. Designed as a landing space for all of Gucci’s “multiverse” and Web3 efforts, the intent was to provide an experimental space for NFTs, vintage items and emerging creators. The world was home to curated NFT artwork, Gucci’s previous NFTs, its community, its garden concept (users enter the space via a “Garden of Curiosities”) and the brand’s vintage pieces, which were on display, though not for sale. The space also gamified education about Gucci’s heritage and products. Gucci was the first major luxury brand to build its own world in the metaverse platform.
Photo: Xtended Identity26/29Xtended Identity
On 11 November, the digital fashion brand dropped its genesis collection Love Warrior, its first wearable and rentable NFT collection. Each NFT included digital clothing, jewellery, wings and accessory wearables to be airdropped to holders every two weeks. Prices ranged from $39 to $299 to rent, with purchase/mint prices to be confirmed. The drop was geared towards onboarding women and LGBTQ+ community members to Web3, without needing a crypto wallet. Royalties from secondary sales are split between the brand (45 per cent), LGBTQ+ resource hub The Center (5 per cent), and the holder (50 per cent).
Photo: Adidas27/29Adidas
Adidas Originals was back with its first wearable digital fashion collection. The limited collection of 16 jackets, part of a new product category called “Virtual Gear”, was sold as NFTs. The pieces included features that have become hallmarks of digital fashion, with details that would be impractical or even impossible in the physical world. Owners of the Adidas Originals capsule NFT collection, which was airdropped to holders in May, were allocated pieces at random. They could either reveal and replace their Capsule NFT by burning it, or sell it on NFT marketplaces without knowing which piece they’ve received.
Photo: Mntge28/29Mntge
New digital collectibles brand Mntge dropped a mint pass on 14 December. The pass grants first access to future artist collections; entry to its token-gated Discord community; and the chance to own authenticated vintage items curated by founders Nick Adler, Sean Wotherspoon, and Brennan Russo.
Photo: Courtesy of BNV and CFDA29/29CFDA
To celebrate its 60th anniversary, the Council of Fashion Designers of America invited seven American designer brands — Coach, Michael Kors, Carolina Herrera, Diane von Furstenberg, Tommy Hilfiger, Vivienne Tam and Willy Chavarria — to create one-of-one NFTs with associated utility, including show invites, designer meet-and-greets and customised garments, available from 12 December, one week before The Sandbox exhibition launch. Opening bid prices ranged from $15,000 to $25,000.
