Many brands trawling the metaverse are looking for new revenue streams. Companies like Nike, Adidas or Tiffany’s have already cracked the code for selling non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and together they have raised more than 245 million US dollars (around 230 million euros).
During online gaming partnerships, investing in real estate in the web 3.0. and the runway’s foray into AR are the most common first forays into the Metaverse, some of the fashion industry’s leaders have turned to NFTs to boost their revenues. This is the case, for example, with Nike, Tiffany’s, Gucci, Dolce & Gabana, Adidas and Lacoste.
A recent NFT brand case study authored by @kingjames23 on blockchain analytics platform Dune examines the performance in terms of number of transactions and revenue of about a dozen NFT projects by major brands on the Ethereum blockchain platform; seven of them belong to the fashion industry. This analysis examines NFT sales volume, royalty value, and total NFT sales amount in US dollars.
Nike: $185 million in NFT sales
Nike ranks first among the early adopters of the Metaverse. Last December, Nike Inc. announced the acquisition of RTFKT, a leading brand that leverages innovative products to offer next-generation collectibles that fuse culture and gaming. This included the acquisition of RTFKT’s CloneX NFT avatar collection, which launched a month before the acquisition was announced. “This acquisition is another step that accelerates Nike’s digital transformation and enables us to serve athletes and creators at the intersection of sports, creativity, gaming and culture,” said John Donahoe, the sporting goods manufacturer’s president and CEO at the time .
Nike and RTFKT performed their first NFT drop in February. Since April this year, RTFKT has been bringing virtual, officially licensed Nike sneakers to the NFT market: the CryptoKicks NFT collection. These 20,000 pairs of virtual sneakers will sell for between US$1,300 and US$130,000, with some examples designed by artist Takashi Murakami being some of the most coveted.
Revenue generated by Nike NFT includes CloneX sales and royalties prior to the acquisition of RTFKT. According to data from Dune, as of October, the sportswear company has completed over 70,000 transactions, generating $91.2 million in royalties and an additional $93.1 million in revenue. Overall, Nike has grossed over $184.31 million from its NFT sales to date.
Dolce & Gabbana: NFT Auctions for Millionaires
Since the first NFT project a year ago, Dolce & Gabbana has raised $23.68 million from NFT sales. It is worth noting that in October 2021 Dolce & Gabbana closed nine NFT auctions raising a total of 1,885 ETH (worth about $5.7 million at the time). The auctioned items were 1/1 unique pieces that make up the ‘Collezione Genesi’ collection. The collectors who bought the pieces received the corresponding custom-made garment within a one- to two-year entitlement period. The centerpiece was a glass suit personally designed by the D&G founders. It is made of silk organza and consists of 78 embroidered glass bodies that differ in design, size, shape and color. As the Italian luxury brand announced on Twitter, the ‘Glass Suit’ was sold for 351,384 ETH, i.e. 1 million US dollars.
Tiffany’s: Partnership with CryptoPunk
Earlier this year, Tiffany’s made headlines when it announced a partnership with blockchain firm Chain to launch its first NFT collection, NFTiff. The iconic jewelry house said it is “taking NFTs to the next level. Exclusive to CryptoPunk owners, NFTiff turns your NFT into a bespoke pendant handcrafted by Tiffany’s artisans. You also get an additional NFT version of the trailer.” According to publicly available data, Tiffany’s NFT sales in October were $12.6 million.
The NFT collection consists of 250 custom pendants crafted with materials such as gemstones, enamel, and gold, and sold for around 30 ETH (about $49,000) at the time of the announcement in August 2022. The cost of the NFT, custom pendant, chain, and shipping is included in the fee, and the physical pendant that comes with a chain will be redeemable in 2023.
Tiffany’s decision to partner with CryptoPunk – a popular NFT Collection of Profile Pictures (PFP) launched in 2017 consisting of 10,000 uniquely generated digital characters – has also increased CryptoPunk’s sales volume. In fact, Tiffany’s has the highest transaction volume among the top brands trading NFTs, surpassing brands like Nike and Adidas. These 74,000 transactions resulted in $6.20 million in NFT sales and an additional $4.76 million in royalties.
Gucci: limited edition Supergucci NFT drop
Gucci’s groundbreaking exploration of the Metaverse began in May 2021 with the presentation of an NFT film inspired by the Aria fashion collection at Christie’s “Proof of Sovereignty” sale, curated by Lady PheOnix. Directed by Gucci’s creative director Alessandro Michele and renowned photographer Floria Sigismondi. The Aria collection was showcased in a four-minute video clip, which sold for $25,000. Six months later, in spring 2022, Gucci began a collaboration with vinyl toy maker Superplastic. They co-created a 10,000 piece NFT drop called Supergucci and introduced it as a three part series of limited edition NFTs co-created by Michele and Superplastics digital personalities Janky & Guggimon. Gucci took a similar approach to Tiffany’s and Dolce & Gabbana, allowing owners of the NFTs to unlock handcrafted white ceramic sculptures with their digital items. To date, Gucci has earned nearly $11.6 million from the sale of NFTs.
Adidas: ‘Into the Metaverse’
Adidas is another brand banking on the Metaverse and is already seeing the benefits of the move. In late 2021, Adidas partnered with Bored Ape Yacht Club to sell 30,000 NFTs for 0.2 ETH each ($22 million at the time). Each of these non-fungible tokens were redeemable for physical hoodies, tracksuits and hats. ‘Into the Metaverse’ is the name of this joint NFT project between Adidas Originals and NFT pioneers Gmoney, Bored Ape Yacht Club and Punks Comic. Phase 1 NFT was the first step of ‘Into the Metaverse’. Phase 1 of physical product claims is now complete and the phase 1 token no longer grants the ability to claim physical co-op goods.
Since then, Adidas NFTs have been the subject of 52,770 transactions and generated $6.2 million in sales and an additional $4.7 million in royalties.
Lacoste: NFTs give owners a say
The iconic polo brand recently joined the Metaverse fashion community with an NFT drop. In June, Lacoste launched its first NFT collection entitled “Undw3”, which means “underwater”. As announced by the fashion brand, 11,212 digital pieces related to the iconic Lacoste polo shirt L1212 will be sold at the starting price of 0.08 ETH (around $1,300 at the time of this issue.) “Andw3 testifies to our desire to explore the phenomenon of to accompany the decentralization driven by Web3 and shows our ambitions in this area,” said Catherine Spindler, Lacoste’s Chief Brand Officer, in the official announcement. Spindler shared the company’s desire to bring both its physical and digital customers together. Lacoste has made another promise to its NFT owners: not only will they have access to exclusive physical products, but they will also have a say in upcoming designs. Notably, Lacoste was testing the Metaverse back in March, when the Croco Island brand launched in Minecraft with 30 “skins” (digital outfits) that served as a preview of the Minecraft x Lacoste fashion collection. According to data from Dune, those efforts have already translated into $1.1 million in NFT sales.
This article originally appeared on FashionUnited.uk. Translated and edited by Simone Preuss.