Italian luxury fashion house Prada, and German sportswear behemoth Adidas have joined hands to foray into NFTs. Adidas and Prada NFT collection is another entry of high-fashion brands entering the NFT ecosystem.
The innovative metaverse collaboration comes as the two brands base their collection on the physical Re-Nylon collection, calling the community-based collection Adidas for Prada Re-source. The Re-Nylon is built by a collaboration of the two brands, which is a collection of high-end athletic wear made in Italy with recyclable materials.
Let us understand more about the collection and what it involves for NFT enthusiasts.
Adidas and Prada NFT: What’s In It?
The concept behind the Adidas for Prada Re-source is to involve fans in the entire collection more engagingly, by creating a user-generated NFT art project. The two brands will be leveraging the Polygon blockchain for their NFT project.
The collaboration of these two brands, Adidas and Prada, from two very different segments of the clothing industry, fast fashion, and haute couture, is another sign of the ever-evolving space providing newer means of digital experience. For this project, the brands have collaborated with digital artist Zach Lieberman.
The project acts as an interactive, dynamic platform, that enables the community to contribute towards an artwork that revolves around ‘play’ and hence experiencing the benefits of co-creation, web3, digital art, and NFTs as a whole.
In a statement, Adidas Originals VP of Brand Communications Erika Wykes-Sneyd said, “The metaverse presents vast possibilities and we see Web3 as a new playground to collaborate with our community – creating shared value for every participant,”, further continuing, “This latest NFT project with Prada and Zach Lieberman encapsulates our desire to work in a radically open manner, drawing on a shared ethos of relentless innovation as we bring co-collaborators on the journey with us toward a new frontier.”
How Did Fans Participate?
For participating in the collection, starting January 24, the fans were allowed to participate in the NFT project with a digital wallaby registering themselves, and creating and mint NFTs.
The photographs submitted by the participants should’ve included one of the filters prepared by the digital artist Zach Lieberman. Interestingly, 1,000 of these spots were reserved for the holders of the Adidas Originals’ Genesis NFT drop, and another 500 for the users who tried to mint an NFT out of the Genesis drop but failed.
The reservations can be considered a fan loyalty bonus or a retention technique adopted by the brands.
Going with the process further, from January 26-27 onwards, the randomly selected fans were allowed to create an NFT and mint their photograph submission, free of cost, via the official Re-source website of the collection.
These randomly selected images were compiled by Lieberman into a mass-patchwork NFT to be listed for auction on January 28 on SuperRare NFT marketplace. The images were compiled using openFrameworks- an open source creative library founded by digital artist Lieberman himself.
Finally, the images compiled together was overlaid on the adidas Prada campaign image.
The Current Status
The final NFTs have already been airdropped to the 3,000 users who took part in the contest, as per the adidas for Re-source official website.
Proceeds from the sales will be majorly split amongst for charity. According to the website, the major chunk of 80% profits will go to Nonprofit Slow Factory, 5 percent of the proceeds will go to Lieberman, and the remaining 15 percent will be shared amongst the participants who created a tile (after auction fees).
Participants, as promised, can claim the complete ownership rights of their contributed tiles and the entry was free for the auction.
Fashion NFTs: Fashion Brands Entering The Space
Prada’s entry into the NFT space is a step further for luxury brands setting their foothold in the market. Further adding to the conversation is the fact that Adidas and Prada will collaborate for their third venture when it comes to NFTs.
“As a digital artist, I have a strong interest in exploring new platforms for making and sharing work. Putting artwork on the blockchain, in the form of NFTs, represent a compelling new technology that introduces the ability to bring ownership to digital objects. This unlocks the potential for value to be recognized on behalf of individual creators and the collective, which is the inspiration for my final design.” this is the statement that was given by Lieberman while working on the Re-source project.
The statement by the artist showcases a sense of enthusiasm from both the ends – brands as well as artists.
While Prada is one of the fast movers, it certainly isn’t the first. The list recently added Crocs into the NFT arena. The leisure footwear company filed a trademark application on January 11 this year, that would expand the brand into the NFT space. GAP announced an NFT collection on the Tezos blockchain alongwith a gamified experience, giving customers a chance to buy a GAP hoodie.
Adding further, luxury brands are making millions through this space. Italian haute couture brand Dolce & Gabbana launched its NFT collection, fetching $5.6 million in sales. Burberry entered the ecosystem with Mythical Games to launch an NFT called Blankos Block Party. Moreover, luxury brands like Gucci (collaborated with Superplastic), Balmain (collaborated with Barbie) and Louis Vuitton (creating Louis the Game) on August 4th last year.
Takeaways
As fashion brands throng to foray the NFT ecosystem, the question lies on the fact about how they evolve and find newer ways to innovate.
These companies have been somewhat successful when it comes to engage with their fans through the means of digital art. What makes it even better is the fact, that fashion brands are the ones that are probably most suitable for this purpose. Innovation, creativity and art are major proponents of the NFT space, aligning perfectly with the fashion industry.
Moving forward, it’s to be seen how these brands can move further from pushing NFTs as ‘digital art’ and more as a means of fashion as a utility.
