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Gucci makes splash in metaverse
$50B revenue maker for luxe labels and other top stories this week
Metaproof Team
December 06, 2022
🔮 Metaproof Fashion
Gm fashionistas! This is Sophia from 🔮Metaproof Fashion, the weekly newsletter where we update you on how the metaverse & web3 are changing the fashion industry.
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This edition is sponsored by the OG metaverse fashion peeps The Fabricant. They have been deep down the metaverse fashion rabbit hole since 2018 and are pioneers in every sense of the word. They are on a mission to change the fashion industry and are making great progress - check them out today!
📲 By the numbers
$300M in metaverse fashion sales since 2021
10,000 metaverse fashion buyers since 2021
85% of fashion executives predict inflation will continue to challenge the market in 2023, with 58% of execs believing geopolitical tensions will continue to disrupt supply chains and weaken the market
In a 1,500-customer survey, 51% expect customer service to be better in the metaverse and 27% expect metaverse virtual avatar assistants to be more effective than online chatbots
In a global survey of 3,000+ customers, 47% are interested in buying digital clothes
📫 News & trends
Italian luxury fashion house Gucci hosts its own metaverse experience in The Sandbox, the first major luxury label to build a digital world in the metaverse. Dubbed “Gucci Vault Land,” the experimental space will have users going on a journey through Gucci’s history via games and NFTs.
In May 2021, Gucci first launched its non-fungible token (NFT) in virtual world Gucci Garden on Roblox, an immersive multimedia experience in Florence, Italy, that was visited by more than 20 million users.
Major labels are hopping on the metaverse and building immersive worlds within it for a host of benefits, including:
Reaping high margins from infinitely replicable digital items
Accessing a new generation of customers, often younger than their traditional shoppers
Road-testing designs in the metaverse prior to real-life production, reducing overstock and oversupply issues in the physical realm, to name a few
$50 billion by 2030? That is the expected size of the metaverse fashion industry within a few short years, according to US investment bank Morgan Stanley. In a note, strategists at the finance giant wrote: “Revenue streams from digital mediums for luxury brands are negligible... We think this is about to change,” following up saying that by 2030, fashion companies could expand their earnings by about 25% through NFTs and the metaverse, gaming, and NFT sectors could represent 10% of the luxury goods market.
It’s understandable: big-name brands like Nike are making their grand entrance into web3 through known market leaders like RTFKT, whose co-founders Steven Vasilev and Chris Le gave fans a sneak peek into the Cryptokicks shoes by wearing prototypes at a recent panel. According to them, it’s “RTFKT’s smart watch in a sneaker,” complete with accelerometers, auto-lacing, and lighting and with “anything you can imagine a shoe can have in terms of haptics and vibration.”
Givenchy becomes one of the latest high-end brands to throw its hat in the virtual fashion ring with a new collection blending real-life and web3 products for the first time. For SS23, its creative director Matthew M. Williams collaborates with underground label (b).STROY on a “super-hypey,” experimental streetwear capsule collection for men and women, with signature pieces recreated in the virtual space as NFTs. The fashion house also joins forces with web3 artist collective FELT Zine to create “digital twins” for six pieces from the capsule.
Now there’s a web3 plug-in that connects luxury brands to their customers via purchased products. Called Mintouge, it generates digital twins of physical items which combine blockchain-based certificate of ownership, digital wearable, and private communications channel. The startup, selected in the first Farfetch Dream Assembly Base Camp accelerator for a 12-week mentorship, enables brands to deliver customer service post-sale, acting as a digital wardrobe slash custodial wallet slash social network.
A year since its launch onto Roblox, fast fashion brand Forever 21 expands the affiliation by launching the F21 Metaverse Collection in stores and online. Released first of December, the collection includes a range of hoodies, shirts, and the “Forever” beanie, the top seller in Forever 21 Shop City on Roblox with 1.5M units sold in the game and up to 2,000 daily. Since its bankruptcy filing, the brand hopes to grow its metaverse-driven business to $20M in the next 12 to 24 months.
More American fashion designers are headed into the metaverse, with the Council of Fashion Designers of American setting up a retrospective exhibition in The Sandbox for its 60th anniversary. Coach, Michael Kors, Carolina Herrera, Diane von Furstenberg, Tommy Hilfiger, Vivienne Tam, and Willy Chavarria will each create one-of-one NFTs with associated utility, available starting December 12.
Art Basel Miami, one of fashion’s most important destinations, is a certified web3 playground, with brand events from the likes of Adidas, Prada, Timex, and Balmain sponsored alongside large-scale, web3-focused events. Among the biggest web3 activations this year is The Gateway Metropolis, housed across 12 buildings and featuring immersive experiences by 9dcc, Adam Bomb Squad, Christie’s, RTFKT’s CloneX, FaZe Clan, Instagram, and Porsche.
Say hello to Viva Magenta, recently announced by Pantone as its 2023 color of the year. Handpicked by human trend prognosticators surveying fashion and design (then interpreted by AI tool Midjourney), the color was described as an “endless new ecosystem to be explored, called the ‘Magentaverse’” and deemed “an unconventional shade for an unconventional time.”
In a first-of-its-kind event, the Korean government hosted a fashion show with “meta fashion” clothes, made based on digital clothes designed for the metaverse. Held in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, the “2022 Meta Fashion Showcase” showcased 30 digital clothing items created by three Korean designers - a mix of virtual clothing such as a dragon-skin leather coat presented on screen, and real clothes worn by models on the runway.
💸 Finance buzz
🗣️Quote of the week
“Gucci is not afraid to be a first mover in many areas and will continue to adopt this mindset and challenge the status quo. Other big players prefer instead to wait, following up at a later stage, adopting a more conservative approach — a respectable strategy, but it is not ours and it never will be.”
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