Welcome back to Now Runway, where we report from the front lines of the digital fashion and luxury revolution. If you thought either space was winding down as we ramped up our summer travel plans, we’ve got some big news for you. DotSwoosh, Nike’s latest Web3 activation, Our Force 1 virtual boxes has officially launched. In just one day, they sold over 55,000, totaling over $1 million, with 30,000 unique members.
AI fashion week, which launched in New York last month, has announced the winners. First place went to José Sobral – AKA paa.tiff – with his Futuristic old soul collection. Second place was awarded with her to Matilde Mariano — AKA pist.ai.chio Jardin des Tuileries collection. In the end, the ophthalmologist with her third Appearance collection.
You’re running out of excuses for being poorly dressed in the metaverse. This week, Claire Silver teamed up with RSTLSS for a sold-out coin including fabulous digital garments, The Sandbox and Paris Hilton teased their next drop, and Barbie teamed up with Forever21 to create digital fashion on Roblox.
Read on for more details and to see what else you missed this week.
RSTLSS x Claire Silver
RSTLSSfounded by Charlie Cohen and AI artist Claire Silver teamed up to present Pixelgeist, a never-before-seen collection of Silver artwork, available exclusively as digital art on the RSTLSS platform. Each RSTLSS x Silver mint contains the artwork, a garment with the artwork, and a game-ready avatar wearing the garment.
With a total of six garments, RSTLSS introduces four new styles, and for the first time a collaborating artist has designed three of the six silhouettes. The experience is interactive, allowing users to influence the final product. During the coining process, collectors answer two questions that determine the combination of artwork and garment. The resulting piece, revealed after the entire collection has been punched, features a random accessory based on the user’s response at the time of punching, making it highly personalized.
The expanded collection features 183 exclusive new artworks from Silver, with editions ranging from 1/1, 1/3, 1/6, 1/9 to 1/17, adding depth and variety to the exclusive RSTLSS. While there are plenty of unique collecting opportunities, the collection is limited to 2,136 mints in total, each run exclusively on the RSTLSS desktop mint site. Each piece depicts a distinctive Pixelgeist, a digital entity that represents the essence of an AI soul trapped in a portrait.
Paris Hilton
The sandpita decentralized virtual gaming world and subsidiary of Animoca Brandsalong with 11:11 Media — Paris Hilton‘s next-gen media company — have announced a new metaverse avatar collection. Launching May 31, the collection features a special subset of eleven unique 1-to-1 handmade NFTs, giving holders exclusive access to a free VIP ticket for Paris: Live in Concert on June 7 at the Fonda Theater in Los Angeles.
“The Paris Hilton avatar collection from 11:11 Media will allow players to proudly express their inner Paris Hilton in The Sandbox,” said Sebastien Borget, COO and co-founder of The Sandbox. “Following multiple successful metaverse activations by the Paris team, fans have been eagerly anticipating this collection. We are excited that they will soon be able to equip their new avatars to show off in the metaverse.”
This collection embodies Hilton’s style and innovation and features 5,555 wholly unique NFT avatars, all playable in The Sandbox. The visually captivating avatars showcase Hilton’s iconic haute couture dresses, famous Halloween costumes, and signature accessories, such as DJ headphones, Sliving (Hilton’s signature blend of “slaying” and “living your best life”), and enchanting fairy wings.
Forever 21 x Barbie
Eternal 21 And Mattel have collaborated with the Virtual brand group – a metavers company helping transform global brands into virtual companies – to develop an AI-designed virtual Forever 21 x Barbie fashion collection, available exclusively on Roblox.
The brand’s signature metaverse experience, Shop City on Roblox, allows visitors to build and manage their own fashion store. Mirroring the in-store selection, the virtual collection features metaverse-exclusive Forever 21 x Barbie designs featuring vibrant summer-themed formal and streetwear lines, complete with bold fabric combinations. Part of the virtual collection will be available in limited edition and all visitors to the experience on Roblox will have the chance to claim free Forever 21 x Barbie fashion surprises.
“Virtual fashion is an important part of meeting consumers wherever they are,” said Jacob Hawkins, Chief Marketing, Omni and Digital Officer, Forever 21. “This unique Metaverse Barbie collaboration between Forever 21, Mattel and Virtual Brand Group continues leading the way in bringing physical and virtual products together.”
Ambush
Tokyo-based luxury streetwear brand Ambush works together with Terminal – a virtual and physical retailer, community hub and designer incubator co-founded by Ericka del Rosario and Mason Rothschild – for an exclusive tokenized merchandise collaboration produced by PetrolRothschild’s Web3 studio.
This digital collectible release coincides with the debut of Ambush’s Spring-Summer 2023 fashion and accessories collection, which will be showcased for a month at Terminal’s flagship store in Los Angeles. The digital collectible gives collectors access to a limited edition sashiko teddy bear created by Ambush and Terminal. Previously unreleased outside of Japan, only 85 of these sashiko teddy bears will ever be made.
Adam Bomb Squad
The iconic Los Angeles streetwear brand celebrates its 20th anniversary, The hundredswill usher in a new era of immersive trading Adam Bomb Squad (ABS) and Badam Bomb Squad (BBS) holders an exclusive look into the history of the brand. Cooperate with somewhereThe Hundreds painstakingly recreated the Fairfax district and previous retail locations using Unreal Engine 5.
This platform uses token gates that unlock specific rooms when a wallet with the ABS and BBS NFTs is connected. ABS holders get exclusive access to The Hundreds Santa Monica, The Hundreds New York, The Hundreds San Francisco and the current flagship store, The Hundreds Los Angeles.
“We are currently recreating our Fairfax neighborhood in the metaverse with our friends somewhere. We’re building out our stores as we imagined they would be in the metaverse, and this unique digital experience is really for our community to come together, shop and socialize, rather than gamification,” said co-founder Bobby Hundreds in a press release.