Afterpay Launches NFT Collection “Keys to NYFW”
New York Fashion Week, which runs from September 9th to September 14th, has a new guest list. These are the NFT owners who purchased “Keys to NYFW”.
On August 23, Afterpay, the official partner of New York Fashion Week, dropped the NFT collection “Keys to NYFW.” It’s partnered with five fashion designers and provides access to shows and other experiences, gifts, and perks to those who purchase the $100 NFT key released by each designer.
The five fashion designers participating in this “Keys to NYFW” this time are “Altu by Altuzarra”, “AnOnlyChild”, “Jonathan Simkhai”, “Kim Shui”, and “The Blonds”. There are currently 50 NFT keys for each designer, with a total of 250 NFTs on sale at Keys.NYFW.com.
NFT buyers will be given two options: attend a live fashion show with the “IRL NYFW Experience” or get exclusive branded merchandise with select the “Designer Keepsake.” Payment methods include Ethereum (ETH), New York Fashion Week official partner Afterpay, or credit cards.
Afterpay will also unveil an additional 250 free NFT keys to get more people involved and, will offer behind-the-scenes content from New York Fashion Week.
Designers Bringing NFTs to New York Fashion Week
NFTs were first introduced at New York Fashion Week this February, and designers gave exclusive merchandise rewards to eligible NFT owners.
However, it can be said that fashion designers successfully incorporate the trend of fusion of digital and physical that is accelerating in the fashion industry by giving the option of invitation for an actual live show besides exclusive merchandise rewards in this upcoming NYFW.
Fashion brand Markarian is also launching an NFT Private Salon membership where salon members will have the chance to win invitations to their fashion show on September 14th. There are three tiers of membership, a free Silver member, a $250 Gold member, and a $3,000 Diamond member.
The $250 Gold membership is limited to 50 pieces and includes an exclusive welcome gift worth $100, entry to a drawing to win invitations to fashion shows, invitations to special in-person and virtual events, Private style consultation at the Markarian Atelier (in-person or virtual), and Priority access to online and in-person sample sales. The $3,000 diamond membership is limited to five, and in addition to the above benefits, participation in the fashion show is guaranteed.
Fashion brand Rebecca Minkoff also launched 55 NFTs this July, with an invitation to a show at New York Fashion Week as one of its perks.
Towards an era where NFT owners become guests of fashion shows
Until now, access to Fashion Week has been restricted to fashion industry insiders such as the press and buyers, as well as to a small number of fashion influencers, and there has been a very high barrier for the general public to participate in it.
However, with this attempt to invite NFT owners as guests of fashion shows, it is expected that more brands will invite NFT owners to runway shows in the future.
Also, compared to the NFT collections released by other fashion brands, this “Keys to NYFW” is priced at $100, which is cheaper than other fashion brands so, for people who have not been interested in Web 3 or NFTs until now Also, it can be said that the threshold of involvement in the Web 3 industry has been lowered with the keyword “fashion.”
In the future, more fashion brands will no doubt develop stronger relationships with their loyal customers through NFT. In addition, the whole fashion industry will accelerate its entry into web3, and it would become more democratized, changing from “some people’s thing” to “many people’s thing”.