Joining the list of luxury brands venturing into the Web3 space, Italian fashion label Prada is gearing up to take its next step into the NFT arena. The 109-year-old designer brand will be launching 100 non-fungible tokens (NFTs), or digital collectibles, to go along with their physical merch purchase from the new ‘Timecapsule’ collection. These NFTs will be based on the Ethereum blockchain, which is a popular choice to back these virtual assets. Both, the Timecapsule collection as well as these NFTs will be released later this week.
Prada’s new collection features unisex button-down shirts in black and white colours. These shirts have been designed in collaboration with artist Cassius Hirst, the son of UK’s veteran millionaire artist, Damien Hirst.
The NFTs that will correspond with the purchase of these gender-neutral shirts, will be GIFs of a black or white pill capsule. Each NFT will carry a number associated with each physical shirt. Prada will airdrop these NFTs to eligible receivers.
The high-end fashion mammoth shared glimpses of its NFTs with its 1.6 million followers on Twitter.
The Aura Blockchain Consortium is backing the NFR drop by Prada.
This non-profit blockchain, headquartered in Switzerland, is designed by three luxury brands — LVMH (Louis Vuitton parent), Prada, and Cartier.
This is not Prada’s first time into the NFT space.
In January this year, it partnered with sportswear brand adidas to release the “adidas for Prada re-source” collection on the Polygon blockchain.
“adidas and Prada reward holders of adidas Originals Into the Metaverse NFTs and bridge the gap for a new community of creators to join the innovative world of Web3,” the shoe brand had said in a statement at the time.
Lately, several luxury labels have been foraying into the digital assets category.
In recent months, Swiss luxury watchmaker Tag Heuer and Gucci started accepting crypto payments for their lavishly expensive products.
Earlier last week, French high-end fashion brand Balenciaga also enabled customers to purchase its products in Bitcoin and Ether.