Real Life NFTs in Fashion and Opportunities for Creators

NFTs in fashion, gaming, and art bring more opportunities and benefits for creators.

Startling price tags for NFTs sneakers, digital art, collectives, and crypto pets have set the tone for the first half of 2021. Auctions and sales of newly discovered digital assets (NFTs) amounted to millions of dollars in a span of 6 months and made headlines this year; however, there are many who worry about the strength of the NFTs industry after the spike of interest cools down.

In this article, we expand on the opportunities that NFTs have brought for creators in fashion, and gaming, and also we mention innovative companies that are seeking to mix the real and virtual world of NFTs. 

What are NFTs in fashion?

NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) are digital assets that can be authenticated through the blockchain. NFTs in fashion are digital, authenticated garments that exist in a metaverse, a shared virtual space.

Fashion NFTs have sold for millions in 2021. On February 27th, RTFKT sold 3 designs of NFTs sneakers with drawings by NFT artist Fewocious for $3,000, $5,000, and $10,000. In total, they sold 621 pairs for a net amount of $3.1 million.

Real Life NFts Sneakers
Real Life NFTs in Fashion

With the evident demand for exclusive NFTs in fashion, luxury brands are preparing to take part in the rage as well. In an interview with Vogue Business, a Gucci representative stated that it was only a matter of time before luxury brands officially released their own fashion NFTs

RTFKT seeking to create real-life fashion NFTs

RTFKT, a start-up that creates fashion NFTs for games and selected brands, has released promotional videos that display how fashion NFTs could be worn in real life. This technology would be powered by augmented reality glasses and would enable anyone to see how people wear NFT clothes in the real world.

RTFKT is paving the way for NFTs in fashion. It was the first brand to sell a couture NFT digital dress for $9,500 and; then, famously sold NFT sneakers for millions of dollars. A true pioneer. 

https://twitter.com/TikTokInvestors/status/1414612582002872329?s=19


Usually, companies provide a physical copy of an NFT, and this is the closest version that people can have of their digital assets in the real world. In this sense, the idea of having people interact with NFTs in their day-to-day life is quite innovative and disruptive. This could be paired with the current advancements of augmented reality technologies.

Beyond the real world. RTFKT has also partnered with Decentraland, a virtual world game powered by the blockchain, and released NFT fashion on that platform.

Opportunities for digital creators

The opportunities for designers and creators are expanding thanks to NFTs. With businesses interested in releasing their own NFTs garments, demand for creative talent is set to rise. 

Designers and people skilled with software tools to create garments and ‘skins’ can benefit from more job opportunities and better contracts thanks to the blockchain. For instance, digital art NFTs are supported by automatic contracts in the blockchain that are programmed to reward the creator each time the item is resold. In the case of Beeple, the artist who sold his NFT art “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” for $69.3 million, he will receive 10% as royalties each time his artwork is resold. 

Thanks to the unbiased, automatic nature of the blockchain, artists can gain more from their artwork than ever before.

How the gaming industry can propagate NFTs in fashion 

Online games sales of skins and digital assets move millions of dollars each year. In May 2021, it was reported that Fortnite, an online multiplayer game, made over $50 million dollars from one single set of skins. The skin designs were NFL jerseys that were highly coveted on the platform.

This number is part of Fortnite’s billion-dollar revenue that originates from sales of premium access, dance moves, and a variety of skins. These are all digital assets that can’t even be authenticated and are only recognized in the Fortnite platform; with the rise of NFT minted skins, a new potential is yet to be discovered. 

Bringing skins to real-life with augmented reality may sound far-fetched; however, companies such as RTFKT are taking steps in this direction. 

METAJACKET RTFKT NFT fashion Toby Evans
The METAJACKET: RTFKT X Toby Evans – Sold for 14 $ETH Source

A Lucrative Outlook

In recent years, gamers have increased their spending on digital assets in games including skins, pets, and accessories. According to recent reports by Arm Treasure data, more than 60% of Americans play video games, with gamers spending more than average on downloadable content annually.

Annual average gamer expenditure:

  • League of legends — $119
  • Grand Theft Auto — $117
  • Fortnite — $97
  • Counter-Strike: — $97

With millions of players on each platform, the revenue gaming companies earn from their digital creations is remarkable. Just in 2020, Fortnite registered more than 300 million players. Although the number of active players is likely to be less than that, counting only 100 million players and the average spending in the game, we can see millions of dollars worth of revenues.

Bigger than Hollywood

A representative of Polygon, a blockchain technology provider, stated that Gaming is bigger than Hollywood in the US. Gaming platforms that successfully capture gamers and implement NFTs for their skins and digital assets could have a bright future ahead.

Rise of new marketplaces for NFTs in fashion

With the potential of NFTs in fashion, new dedicated marketplaces are emerging.

Metajuku is a virtual fashion mall located in the virtual world of Decentraland. This mall seeks to rent stores for brands and provide a unique buying experience for NFTs.

Similarly, ‘Assembly.Fashion’ is another marketplace for digital fashion that allows designers to license their creations with buyers and negotiate the terms of use and royalties.

The startling amounts that NFTs fashion have moved in 2021 could be a signal of new opportunities for creators. Even if the spike calms down, if the general citizens embrace NFTs, the market size could considerably increase. Currently, the number of people interacting with the virtual world and the blockchain is still limited, so we could argue that there is potential if the mass embraces these disruptive technologies in the future.

NFTs in creative industries

The innovation that is emerging thanks to blockchain brings opportunities and challenges.

As younger generations such as the tech-savvy Generation Z acquire more purchasing power, the prospects for digital industries seem bright. Nevertheless, this is a disruptive change in diverse industries that may take time.

—text by Tania Perales