It is the first luxury brand to add to the crypto sensation.
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March
18, 2021
4 min read
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Why do people buy things that they will never be able to wear or wear in real life? The fashion house Gucci, launches some augmented reality (AR) tennis shoes as non-expendable NFT tokens. This is to stay ahead of the trends in virtual reality.
Basically it is a filter that you use with your smartphone to appear that you are using them with the help of augmented reality (AR).
To achieve this, Gucci has collaborated with fashion tech company Wanna , known for manipulating augmented reality and creating three-dimensional models that can be used for digital footwear and even watches, according to Business Of Fashion.
Wanna has previously worked with Reebok , Puma, and Snapchat to test consumer response to virtually trying on clothes.
For the luxury clothing brand, it is not the first time that it has ventured into something similar. On other occasions, he has designed virtual garments for the game Drest, Sims 4 and even Pokémon Go , as well as the everlasting game Roblox . But they’re not the only ones to have done it, Louis Vuitton also got into the business by designing skins for League of Legends in 2019.
In this way, Gucci hopes to reach generation Z, who know the technology but who still cannot afford a physical product. The digital footwear has a value of almost 9 dollars in the Wanna application, and in the Gucci application they are worth almost 12 dollars (244 Mexican pesos). Why such an “affordable” price? The brand wants to reach (virtually) a wider audience. So when someone can’t afford real tennis shoes, they’ll do it digitally.
This is different from what many others have tried with NFTs , which are surprisingly high in value. In addition, the luxury company wants to leave them at that cost so that the same consumers can exchange them. However, they are working for this product to increase its commercial value once it is introduced in the market.
The fascination for NFTs , they are no longer only of interest to artists, or Elon Musk , but brands are expanding. Non-fungible tokens have attracted surprising numbers at auctions in recent weeks. Even Wanna CEO Segey Arkhangelskiy said in a statement that NFT and AR technology will continue to grow very fast. He predicts that within 5 to 10 years, a large portion of luxury brand revenue will come from digital products.
The Italian brand is experimenting in the virtual market and although they are not technically an NFT , it is a product that exists only on the net. So we asked ourselves, would you pay for luxury shoes that only exist on your phone? And does the virtual become real in some way?
Let’s tell what you think, would you buy them to dress your digital self?