How Roksanda created a fashion week NFT
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London Fashion Week regular Roksanda has partnered with metaverse innovation provider the Institute of Digital Fashion (IODF) to create a shoppable NFT of the label’s demi-couture final look. It adds a new dimension to the Roksanda Autumn/Winter 2022 show on 21 February, intended to appeal to a younger audience than her usual millennial base.
The NFT, a sculptural gown in geometric print, will be available for AR try-on via an Instagram filter and sold in various versions on Roksanda.com from the morning of the show. It also marks the first time an NFT has been shoppable on a luxury brand’s website in pounds, rather than in cryptocurrencies such as ethereum (ETH), the brand says.
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Sold in a tiered system, the NFT ranges in price from £25 for one of 500 3D garment renders, to £250 for one of 250 3D animated garment renders. Then there’s a top tier where 10 customers can purchase for £5,000 the 3D animation render, plus the software files used to create the digital version of the dress, enabling them to wear the garment in the metaverse. (Physical Roksanda pieces typically retail from around £450 to £4,000). Clearpay, a long-term show sponsor and e-commerce partner of Roksanda, sponsored the NFT.
A growing number of brands are experimenting with NFTs tied to fashion weeks to amplify their shows to a new audience. At the Eckhaus Latta show in New York over the weekend, the brand launched an EL10 NFT series of unique looks that also gives access to its “Web 3.0 paradise” called Club Eckhaus Latta, replete with invites to member-only events, exclusives and future NFTs. Hugo Boss produced an NFT jacket as a prize for winners of its #BossMoves TikTok challenge following its SS22 Russell Athletics show. Copenhagen brand (Di)vision produced an NFT alien in collaboration with Adidas at its AW22 show last week. And now, there’s Roksanda, the London-based label founded by designer Roksanda Ilinčić in 2005 and best known for refined day and evening dresses.
Lowering barrier to entry for existing customers
The brand wants to simplify the NFT purchase journey, making NFTs accessible to existing luxury consumers while also appealing to the growing community of crypto-savvy Gen Zs online, says CEO Jamie Gill. “We’ve seen many bigger luxury brands enter this space and do it well, but their NFTs are available on the specific blockchain and only available through cryptocurrency,” he says. “We’re not going to say we are in any way experts — we are learning at a very fast pace as things come to market — but it felt important to make the project make sense to our existing luxury consumer.”
Roksanda has a strong following with older millennials and is known for its sophisticated aesthetic and connection to the art world. Brand fans are perhaps more familiar with Tate Modern or the Serpentine than NFT marketplaces such as Rarible or Opensea.
