Are NFTs the future of luxury fashion?
The streetwear label Overprice has sold a virtual hoodie for £19,000 as a non-fungible token
How to be unique in the world of consumptionism and overproduction? Are non-fungible tokens (NFTs) redefining luxury fashion and establishing a new trend? What is this new NFT blockchain craze everyone is suddenly interested in? Unlike such popular cryptocurrencies as Bitcoin and Ethereum, these digital collector’s items cannot be traded. Blockchain technology makes each non-fungible token unique and uncopyable, and only transferable as a whole. Although it is most known for the art and pieces created digitally, the Blockparty.co auction shows that it is also used for tangible items. Take the case of Overprice selling their hoodie as a non-fungible token.
As Priya Elan writes, a virtual hoodie designed by the streetwear label Overprice has recently been sold on the digital art marketplace Blockparty.co for £19,000 as a non-fungible token. The anonymous bidder can now “wear” the piece in virtual settings and enjoy the one-of-a-kind garment.
As the trend shows, many of the worldwide known fashion companies got interested in the NFTs boom and started creating clothes and trainers made to be worn in virtual, augmented reality worlds. According to the founder of Overpriced, Leighton James, through their art-powered crypto fashion, they are striving to “challenge the conceptions of what luxury fashion is.” What is more, the trend is spreading onto other areas of art – The Kings of Leon became the first music band to release an album in an NFT format. One of our IMPAKT TV guests Harm van den Dorpel was the first artist to sell NFT to a museum!
So, is this a unique situation or should we start preparing for owning a virtual wardrobe? What does this boom mean for the art world? What impact do NFTs have on climate change? Is it just a trend or will showing off in the virtual space become the new normal? In our first IMPAKT TV episode we talked about the impact and future of NFTs with our special guests – Simon Denny, Harm van den Dorpel, and Inte Gloerich. Tune in to our YouTube channel to dive further into the topic.