Hiroto Kai remained up all night making Japanese-inspired clothes after the virtual world Decentraland announced in June that users could build and sell their apparel for avatars to wear on the site.
He said he made $15,000-$20,000 selling kimonos for approximately $140 each in just three weeks.
While many people find the concept of paying real money for clothes that do not exist in the real world perplexing, virtual goods produce actual sales in the "metaverse". Metaverse is an online setting where individuals may gather, stroll about, meet friends, and play games.
Kai's correct name is Noah, and he is a digital artist and a Japan fanatic. He is a 23-year-old New Hampshire resident.
He resigned from his job as a full-time designer after earning as much in three weeks as he did in a year at his music shop employment.
Kai explained, “It simply went off. It was a new way to express yourself, and its walking art, which is what's so wonderful about it.”
“When you have clothes, you can wear it to a party, dance in it, flaunt it, and it's a status symbol,” he says.
Clothing for avatars, known as wearables, may be bought and sold on the blockchain as a non-fungible token in Decentraland (NFT). Kai's kimonos include pieces made of crushed blue velvet with a golden dragon accent.
Some of the world's largest fashion brands are taking an interest in esoteric crypto assets, eager to link themselves with a new generation of gamers, but most of their ventures have been for marketing.
Burberry has produced branded NFT items for Blankos Block Party, a game owned by Mythical Games, while LVMH-owned Louis Vuitton has established a metaverse game where players may gain NFTs.
Within the game Roblox, Gucci has offered non-NFT clothes for avatars. Imani McEwan, a Miami-based fashion model, and NFT fan remarked, "Your avatar reflects you." "Essentially, what you're wearing determines who you are."
Since January, McEwan claims to have spent $15,000 to $16,000 on 70 NFT wearables, using profits from bitcoin investments. He started with a bitcoin-themed pullover and just purchased a black beret made by a friend.
It is impossible to estimate the entire size of the NFT wearables industry. According to NonFungible.com, a website that analyzes the NFT industry, wearable sales volume in Decentraland alone totaled $750,000 in the first half of 2021, up from $267,000 in the same period the previous year.
Wearables and shopping in virtual stores, according to some proponents, might be the future of retail.
"Rather than scrolling through a feed and shopping online, you can have a more immersive brand experience by exploring a virtual space. Whether you are shopping for your online avatar or buying physical products that can be delivered to your door," said Julia Schwartz, director of Republic Realm.
Online fashion does not replace actual purchases for NFT fans. However, Auroboros co-founders Paula Sello and Alissa Aulbekova believe it may be a more ecologically responsible alternative to fast fashion.
Customers may upload a photograph of themselves to Auroboros and have clothes added digitally for 60-1000 pounds.
According to a 2018 Barclaycard research, 9 percent of British buyers bought garments for social media photographs and subsequently returned them; Sello argues that the virtual garment idea may reduce the waste of customers buying items to wear on social media.
We need to make a fashion transition right now. According to Sello, the industry just cannot survive.
Limited edition NFTs depicting shoes are sold by RTFKT and may be worn in virtual worlds or on social media through a Snapchat filter. When COVID launched, it took off, and many people got online, according to RTFKT CEO Steven Vasilev.
