French luxury fashion house Louis Vuitton has announced its first non-fungible token (NFT) collection, with each iconic-trunk-turned-digital-collectible coming with a tag of nearly $42,000.
According to Vogue Business, the fashion giant has prepared a collection of phygital “Treasure Trunks”. These NFTs will also serve as access passes to future products, experiences, and the community of holders.
There will be “several hundred” trunks available, with each piece costing €39,000 ($41,685). Their owners will not be able to sell them or gift them to somebody else. They can’t be returned either.
To get a trunk, customers from the US, Canada, France, the UK, Germany, Japan, and Australia can put their names on a waiting list on June 8.
They’ll need to connect their crypto wallets and provide some personal details. Both crypto and fiat can be used to buy a trunk.
On June 14, the company will invite selected customers to first learn about the ‘Via’ project, and then to buy a trunk two days later. The physical trunk will also be delivered to the NFT holders.
This particular launch is a part of Via, a project created by the company to include novel technologies, such as blockchain and NFTs.
Via (meaning ‘road’ in Latin) is a new chapter in the company’s existence, the report noted, and one of the things the house focuses on is traceability. For example, it uses the Aura blockchain for its LV Diamonds collection.
That said, Louis Vuitton is not a complete stranger to NFTs. It launched its free-to-play ‘Louis the Game’ in 2021. The goal was to provide a way for players to learn about the company’s history and potentially win one of 30 available postcards.
Also, in January last year, LVMH chief executive Bernard Arnault suggested that the company had more plans for NFTs and the metaverse. He said during an earnings call that,
“We have to see what will be the applications of the metaverse and NFTs. It can undoubtedly have a positive impact — if it is well done — on the activity of the brands, but it is not our objective to sell virtual sneakers at €10. We are not interested in that.”
It is also interesting to note that Louis Vuitton made its move at a time of general calm in the NFT realm.
There are new crazes out there, and while it’s very likely that NFTs will be back in the spotlight eventually, many seem to be currently focused on other tech categories, notably artificial intelligence (AI).
However, Louis Vuitton seems to have NFTs included in its plans at least for this year. The Via Treasure Trunks Holders will be given a chance to periodically buy keys that gives them access to additional products, starting in mid-June.
New products will come with a record of ownership and proof of authenticity, and some of the products will be customized for each trunk owner. Owners are allowed to sell the products they unlock with keys.
You can read more about the fashion industry’s collaboration with the metaverse/NFT realm below.
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Learn more:
– Luxury Brand Gucci Collaborates with Bored Ape Creator Yuga Labs for Metaverse Project – Crypto Adoption on the Rise?
– TAG Heuer to Allow Users to Display NFTs on Their Smartwatches
– How Fashion and NFTs Found Themselves in a Beneficial Partnership
– How to Create an NFT?
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