If in 2018, you had asked me which industries would be the slowest to engage with blockchain and Web3, I might have pointed at luxury brands. If I had, I would have been very wrong indeed.
Token Gamer and NFT Insider have decided to combine forces to launch a weekly podcast, Mint One (formerly WAX Lyrical). John Nichols of NFT Insider and I will discuss a new topic every week, as well as feature special guests. If there’s a topic you’d like us to cover, make sure you let us know through the Token Gamer Discord or Twitter, or the NFT Insider Discord or Twitter.
In last week’s episode, John and I discussed whether the fall of the earning potential from Play-to-Earn (P2E) games has hurt countries such as the Philippines. This week, we take a look at the opposite side of the coin: the influx of luxury brands into Web3.
Episode 33: Luxury Brands are Storming Web3
This week we saw one of the most surprising collaborations and entries to Web3: Tiffany and CryptoPunks. CryptoPunk holders will have a chance to purchase 1 of 250 Tiffany pendants that will be created in rose or yellow gold, and 30 or more gems, to mimic the appearance of their Punk. You first have to own a Punk, then you have to be one of the first 250, and finally, you had to pay 30 ETH, around $50,000.
Although this was an unexpected pairing, luxury brands — even historic and traditional ones like Tiffany — have been experimenting with Web3 and NFTs en masse. Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Gucci, Prada, and many more high-ranking fashion brands have embraced NFTs. Some were highly ill-advised and as I eluded to in this episode, the worst example so far is Fendi, who decided I might like to carry my cold wallet around attached to a bag in plain sight; I would not.
Powering the Web3 revolution with @Ledger. Discover the #FendiXLedger collection, unveiled on the #FendiFW22 men’s runway. pic.twitter.com/BfvZGQvROs
— Fendi (@Fendi) January 15, 2022
Then, an industry I am particularly familiar with — watches — has also dived straight in with the likes of Hublot, Jacob & Co, and Bulgari. Bulgari even went as far as to tie NFTs to physical counterparts and patent Bulgari Singularity, a procedure that will see the NFT and physical product bound together in a third contract to overcome theft and forgeries.
It’s an exciting time for Web3 and for luxury brands as they begin the early stages of exploring their uses to one another. As I see it, luxury brands stand a lot to gain as digital counterparts of expensive products can counter one of the most prevalent problems: fakes.
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