NFT mode collaboration: Virtual mode, real request

Everyone reporting on the art world in the context of a pandemic is obliged to speak in a low voice to acknowledge that the current situation has forced countless shutdowns and prevented young creatives from starting careers in something they love.

However, despite the gloom, the retail reality at the country’s leading department stores has actually been quite positive of late, with preliminary sales figures from net sales at the start of the new year putting companies like Sogo & Seibu Co. and Takashimaya Co. at a 150% year-over-year increase in revenue. Even Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings, which did better than most companies to weather the storm last year, posted a 130% year-over-year increase in revenue.

It is very interesting to see what consumers are buying. Compared to last year, the store has observed that visitors are stocking up on white shirts and suits now that many are returning to the office, with overall fashion sales increasing overall.

Naturally, department stores have yet to return to pre-COVID figures, with clearance sales revenue across all three chains trading at 20-30% lower than in early 2020.

However, it’s still a pretty decent result given the lack of duty-free buyers and, while there’s still a long way to go, a recovery doesn’t seem completely out of reach as more than 6,500 people lined up to get in. Isetan Shinjuku department store in Tokyo on Jan. 2.

Collections seem to be taking center stage in fashion circles these days, with investors eschewing the hefty, bulky streetwear items that generally fall in value over time.

Enter the world of non-exchangeable tokens and their ability to price almost anything. While NFT mode collaboration is now a must so that it hardly needs any attention, creatives are still groping around trying to find value beyond money.

In the absence of the ability to collect a large collection of physical items, the idea of ​​collecting clothes digitally seems very attractive. But given that fashion is a temporary medium of evolving trends, shoppers seem to be largely unmoved by the idea of ​​buying the NFT jacket they’ll be changing to next season. The projects that tend to succeed are those that embrace that ephemeral nature, allowing people to have a point in fashion history—not fashion gifts.

Take, for example, an auction earlier this month of seven NFTs related to the inaugural issue of Fruits magazine, published in 1997. The NFT items are scans of the original, uncut photos that will be used in the magazine — iconic pieces of Harajuku fashion captured by street fashion photographer Shoichi. Aoki.

The clothes worn by the subjects themselves are likely worthless, but as nostalgic portraits of those on the ground in Harajuku in the 1990s, or those who discovered them overseas via Phaidon’s 2001 “FRUiTS” compilation book, the clothes definitely have value. which is then validated. by financial value. The seven NFTs were priced at 3.65 ETH (about 1.4 million, or about 200,000 each) and are now on the market.

You can still find physical copies of the magazine’s premiere issue for much less, or just rock around and download the image files, but that’s by no means what’s going on here.

Fashion sometimes experiences severe “buyer’s remorse,” with people looking back and laughing at the clothes they wore that meant the world to them at the time. Being able to see satisfying value for money sitting next to your memory is a shortcut to a sense of satisfaction.

This is just the beginning of a digital metaverse project that may be confusing and exhausting for people new to NFT. In short, through Fruits’ collaboration with Harajuku-based Asobi System, Paradeall and Fracton Ventures, a virtual Tokyo has been created on a new platform. MetaTokyo platform. To purchase, you need a pass purchased as an NFT, which then gives you access to members-only content and events on the platform. The current price is 0.05 ETH (just a little over 20,000) on the OpenSea platform.

The entry fee is largely insignificant compared to the tech literacy required to access this virtual world, but the prospect of being able to walk through the streets of Harajuku in the late 90s is sure to encourage some to get involved.

Of course, there is a lot of cynicism surrounding this kind of project, especially considering the amount of money that could be spent with NFT, the ecological impact of the blockchain model, and the risks of the servers hosting NFT and related projects. is being discontinued.

However, there are some needs to be answered here, and, even if they don’t last long, they will eventually become another part of fashion history.

MetaTokyo: https://metatokyo.xyz