AR may be one means by which fashion NFTs can be valuable. Dolce & Gabbana is expected to give renewed momentum to this aspect with the launch of its Collezione Genesi of NFT wearables, which is expected to include AR, on 28 August.
To date, established luxury fashion brands have had little success in pushing NFT prices into the astonishing territory: Gucci’s horse painting sold for just $5,000 over its initial price of $20,000, while luxury suitcase company Rimowa’s NFTs sold for $1,000.
As the original NFT buzz wave fades, marketers are considering alternative choices. Brands such as Louis Vuitton and Burberry have found success using in-game NFTs. For example, $395,000 worth of Burberry NFTs were sold out in minutes at Mythical Games' Blankos Block Party.
Because of its interesting nature and real-life uses, augmented reality is emerging as another early winner that could serve as luxury’s entrance point for NFTs. Experts suggest that the use cases of NFTs must be perfected if fashion NFTs are to fetch the same prices or more as real-life Birkins.
According to venture capitalist Matthew Ball, whose popular metaverse articles have become the go-to metaverse guide for tech executives, including Zuckerberg, the ultimate purpose of an NFT, be it an avatar, image, outfit, or trade card, is to have both financial worth and function. However, it is difficult to design anything like that.
Although the AR component of Dolce & Gabbana's NFTs has yet to be confirmed, Shashi Menon, whose company Unxd collaborated on the project with Dolce & Gabbana, says they took a serious look at AR and what it may look like in the fashion market.
The NFTs will feature haute couture ensembles with virtual components that Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have designed.
The usage of augmented reality gives up a slew of possibilities. At its most daring, augmented reality might allow players to wear simple bodysuits in real life while viewing each other’s fashion NFTs via AR glasses that also overlays extra information onto a user's real-world scene.
Rtfkt, possibly the most popular NFT fashion brand, has released a video of people walking through New York City wearing Rtfkt's augmented reality apparel, including the Metajacket, as seen through the eyes of someone using AR glasses.
Rtfkt co-founder Benoit Pagotto says, "We believe AR will be the next paradigm leap that will revolutionize personal style and fashion in the next 10 years."
“The combination of NFTs and the upcoming release of consumer-ready AR glasses will allow that transformation to take place.”
Given the lack of widespread adoption of AR glasses, most of today's AR applications focus on employing AR to superimpose digital apparel using phone cameras for social media sharing, which is based on Snapchat's AR technology.
Early adopters and crypto-savvy fashionistas are currently appealing to brands that are foraying into AR NFTs, according to those who are doing so. The current user experience is rather basic, but technology is rapidly developing.
On August 24, DressX, a business with a mobile app that allows women and men to ‘wear’ an AR wardrobe and then post their images on social media, announced a partnership with Crypto.com. One interesting thing is that starting on August 29, customers may purchase SpaceX and Elon Musk-inspired fashion of NFTs on the Crypto.com NFT marketplace.
Furthermore, customers may use the DressX app to display themselves wearing chosen outfits in augmented reality. However, they need to purchase these outfits. Unlike the regular DressX outfits, which are accessible in infinite quantities, the NFT costumes are restricted and only available in AR to NFT owners.
