While it is no secret that wealthy fashion enthusiasts are willing to splurge on luxury pieces, is this the case in the non-tangible world of NFTs? Dolce and Gabbana have set a multi-million dollar record for fashion on the NFT market in 2021. NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are digital assets such as music, videos and notably, digital art pieces.
Luxury brands including Gucci and Louis Vuitton have released NFTs; however, Dolce and Gabbana are responsible for the highest-selling NFT to hit the market. The NFT collection was born when Shashi Menon, the chief executive officer of UNXD, approached Dolce and Gabbana with the multi-million-dollar idea. The collection sold for USD $5.7 Million and is part of the Etherium blockchain. Since the final sale, the value of Etherium increased by 10%, placing the value of the collection at over $6 Million.
Dolce and Gabbana announced their digital token prior to the Alta Moda show in Venice earlier this year. The Italian brand’s famous couture has long been a magnet for the most affluent fashion lovers worldwide, and their breakthrough into the digital marketplace has proven to be no different.
The NFT contains nine pieces and was produced in collaboration with UNXD, a digital marketplace exclusively for digital luxury NFTs. The collection includes five pieces that appeared in the Collezione Genesi show; Two dresses, two crowns and one suit. The remaining four pieces are bespoke designs curated exclusively for the online sphere. Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana hope that the online NFT presence will draw the attention of the online “cryptocurrency world”, in particular, prosperous investors who are willing to spend considerable amounts of money on NFTs.
A most notable piece, “The Impossible Tiara”, stems from the notion that the only limitation of digital design is one’s imagination. The tiara has earned the name “impossible”, as the featured gems “cannot be found on earth”. However, taking the top price was the “Doge Crown”, an elusive headdress adorned with 142 diamonds and seven sapphires, selling at USD 1.25 Million. The crown was inspired by Piazzo San Marco, specifically Doge’s Palace and the clocktower. The crown took hundreds of hours to created and features a physical counterpart, in addition to the NTF image.
Buyers who have purchased items with physical counterparts will receive the NTF, as well as the item tailored to their specifications. The “Glass Suit” took a collection of eight seamstresses a total of three months to create. The “Dress From a Dream” made in both gold and silver involved an incredible nine- seamstresses and embroiders, taking a total of three months to come to life. Interestingly, each NTF, whether physical or digital – contains an experiential element. This element allows buyers two years of access to Dolce and Gabbana events in Italy, private events, and the “Glass Suit” exhibition.
NTFs have become a popular commodity for investors and throughout the wider online community. Dolce and Gabbana have described the collection as “the future of NTFs” in the growing age of digital assets. There is no doubt that the physical counterparts of the collection will be found in museums in the future. The full collection of Dolce and Gabbana’s NTF can be viewed on UNXD.