Fashion brands entered Web3 and released phygital shows at NYFW: Remaining Web3 Challenges

Many brands actively participate in Web 3.0

New York fashion week was held from September 9th to September 14th and more than 110 brands released their new collection. This season was literally said to be “Back to Normal” for the first time in about three years, not only fashion shows but also NYFW events and after-parties held by brands everywhere every day. It was a season that completely restored the vibrancy of fashion week.

The New York Fashion Week revived such a physical fashion show, but at the same time, it was also characteristic that many brands actively entered Web 3.0, released their collections digitally, or streamed their shows on the Metaverse. 

Among them, Tommy Hilfiger, one of America’s leading fashion brands, left the biggest impression and topic. 

Tommy Hilfiger returned to New York Fashion Week for the first time in three years, live-streaming the show on Roblox in parallel with a real-life show titled Tommy Factory Fall’22. Show attendees could claim a free NFT, and also the show’s simultaneous Roblox live stream was displayed as a backdrop.

Meanwhile, the Metaverse catwalk featured digital star talent avatars Junky, Gugimon, and Daisy, as well as a special appearance by Chinese digital human Noah. This massive Tommy Hilfiger Phygital event was inspired by Warhol’s legacy of celebrating pop culture and creative expression, creating 360-degree touchpoints for a true phygital experience.

Rebecca Minkoff, who has been involved in NFT and Web3.0 from the early stages, held the presentation for her latest collection in a space that combines immersive CGI and projection mapping experiences.  Rebecca Minkoff’s NFT owner, which is sold on the NFT marketplace Mavion, was also invited to the presentation, and designer Rebecca Minkoff herself was seen greeting each visitor in person.  “I have been working to help onboard our customers into these new technologies, finding from previous drops that there’s curiosity but also a knowledge gap. “ Minkoff said.

Vivienne Tam wanted to raise awareness of crypto assets through fashion. So she partnered with Nifty Gateway, an NFT marketplace owned by Gemini, and launched the NFT for the latest collection piece.

In addition, popular sports brand PUMA launched a dedicated portal Black Station that synchronizes with the physical show “FUTROGRADE” and provided virtual experiences to the online community. A new limited edition version of the NFT Puma sneaker was also unveiled at the Futrograde show finale.

Inviting NFT holders to New York Fashion Week

As each brand presents a phygital collection that fuses the physical and digital in this way, the project “Keys to NYFW” led by After Pay, the official partner of New York Fashion Week. ” also attracted attention. In this project, 5 brands such as ‘The Blonds’ and ‘Kim Shui’ participated, and if you purchase the NFT of each brand released at 100 dollars, you were able to receive an invitation to the designer’s physical show. 

Until now, fashion weeks have been limited to those involved in the fashion industry or fashion influencers, and access to the general public has been almost impossible. However, because of this Key to New York Fashion Week conduct, NFT holders have been added to the show’s guest list.

Troubles that NFT purchasers can not enter the show

Although it was such a topical NFT collection, there were voices of dissatisfaction from owners who actually purchased NFTs and headed to the show venue. A participant who purchased Kim Shui’s NFT RSVPed to “attend” the invitation to the show, but after waiting in line for a long time in front of the venue on the day of the show, ultimately not given access. Also, a similar situation occurred at an after-party held by The Blonds. 

After all, they complained to the management, and eventually, they received a refund and exchange it for a different show ticket. However, “participating in an actual fashion show” has a very big meaning for participants who purchased NFTs looking forward to it, this response must be a sad solution.

At fashion week, people with standing tickets are often the last to enter the venue. Therefore, when the start time of the show is approaching, the show may start before the visitors in the standing seats enter the venue in time. The tickets distributed to NFT holders this time were also standing tickets, so it is thought that the check-in receptionist postponed the arrival of NFT holders.

In any case, a phygital fashion show that integrates with Web 3.0 is still in its early stages and the fact such new challenges exist. However, as the season progresses, both the brands and the management side will come to understand what they are doing, and there is no doubt that New York Fashion Week will become more involved in NFT holders and the Web 3.0 industry.

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