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Prada, Adidas Launch NFT Project on Polygon

The latest high-fashion foray into Web 3 includes a metaverse angle as well.

Adidas x Prada Re-Nylon collection (Prada)
Adidas x Prada Re-Nylon collection (Prada)

Italian luxury fashion house Prada and sportswear giant Adidas, which recently ventured into the metaverse, have joined forces to launch a new non-fungible token (NFT) project built on the Polygon network. The project will allow fans to contribute their own designs.

Prada and Adidas Originals said they will auction a collection of NFTs designed by the digital artist Zach Lieberman on SuperRare between Jan. 28–31. The proceeds from the NFT sale will be donated to a charity supporting artists and creators.

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This Prada-Adidas tie-up is another sign of clothing brands – from both haute couture and fast fashion – aggressively entering the space in an attempt to give customers a more digital experience.

Morgan Stanley predicts the total NFT market is expected to grow to $300 billion by 2030. The report identifies luxury brands such as Gucci, Balenciaga and Kering as in the best position to profit from digital collaborations in the metaverse.

From Jan. 24, fans will be able to register with a digital wallet to create and mint NFTs by submitting a photograph, using a filter designed by the digital artist Lieberman. The project will then choose 3,000 contributors who will also own IP rights to their individual NFTs and be able to take part in the drop later that week.

Luxury metaverse

Prada and Adidas said they will also launch their third collaboration, dubbed the “Adidas for Prada Re-Nylon collection,” in the metaverse. A press release didn’t specify which metaverse but Adidas has worked with The Sandbox in the past.

“Prada sees the emergent metaverse as a new space for the brand to re-define luxury for the next generation and cultivate shared experiences that honor the brands’ spirit of experimentation and creativity,” Lorenzo Bertelli, Prada’s marketing director and head of corporate social responsibility, told CoinDesk in a statement.

Read more: Fashion Giant Gap Launches Gamified NFTs on Tezos

Most recently, leisure footwear company Crocs filed a trademark application on Jan. 11 that would expand its brand into the realm of NFTs. In January, The Gap announced it teamed up with InterPop to launch its first collection on the Tezos blockchain. The drop also included a gamified digital experience allowing customers to purchase a limited-edition Gap hoodie.

Luxury fashion brands are already making millions of dollars from auctioning off NFTs. In September, Italian haute couture label Dolce & Gabbana launched its NFT collection, Collezione Genesi, which fetched approximately $5.65 million in a sale.

UPDATE (Jan. 20, 21:35 UTC): Corrects SuperRare auction dates, changes photo.

Tanzeel Akhtar

Tanzeel Akhtar has contributed to The Wall Street Journal, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Forbes Africa, Financial Times, The Street, Citywire, Investing.com, Euromoney, Yahoo! Finance, Benzinga, Kitco News, African Business Magazine, Hedge Week, Campden Family Office, Modern Investor, Spear's Wealth Management Magazine, Global Investor, ETF.com, ETF Stream, CIO UK, Funds Global Asia, Portfolio Institutional, Interactive Investor, Bitcoin Magazine, CryptoNews.com, Bitcoin.com, The Local, The Next Web, Mining Journal, Money Marketing, Marketing Week and more. Tanzeel trained as a foreign correspondent at the University of Helsinki, Finland and newspaper journalist at the University of Central Lancashire, UK. She holds a BA (Honours) in English Literature from the Manchester Metropolitan University, UK and completed a semester abroad as an ERASMUS student at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece. She is NCTJ Qualified - Media Law, Public Administration and passed the Shorthand 100WPM with distinction. She does not currently hold value in any digital currencies or projects.

Tanzeel Akhtar