Welcome back to Now Runway, where we report to you from the frontlines of the digital fashion and luxury revolution. Today, we’re coming to you from Auckland, a land that fashion may have overlooked but the rainy season certainly did not, so we’re hoping that the buzzed-about Gucci Vault sends us a raincoat. Read on to see what you missed this week, including House of Blueberry bringing us back to the 90s with a Clueless collaboration, NARS reminding us that orgasms should be celebrated, and MNTGE making patches cool again.
House of Blueberry x Clueless
House of Blueberry, a digital fashion brand, has unveiled a range of digital wearables that draw inspiration from the popular ’90s romantic comedy Clueless under a license from Paramount Consumer Products. This collection can be found on Roblox via a pop-up shop within the House of Blueberry Experience.
The House of Blueberry x Clueless collection takes cues from the legendary outfits donned by Cher, Dionne, and Tai in the 1995 blockbuster film. The inaugural 15-piece collection encapsulates iconic looks like Cher’s yellow plaid ensemble, her red dress, and boa. Users can explore and shop this collection in a 3D pop-up store that mirrors the Clueless aesthetic, complete with an interactive showroom that replicates Cher’s famous closet. The Clueless x House of Blueberry collection is up for grabs in the Roblox marketplace and within the House of Blueberry experience.
“I am so excited to do this Clueless collaboration within Roblox,” Ashley Hopkins, Chief Creative Officer of Blueberry said in a correspondence with nft now. “The 90’s is a never-ending trend that I couldn’t be happier to brighten the digital space with. The fashion, the aostalgia, the attitude — can it get any better than that? As-If!”
NARS
NARS, the French cosmetics and skincare company, has teamed up with SuperRare to launch an exclusive collection of NFTs inspired by their iconic shade, Orgasm, along with 3D makeup filters for Instagram. This initiative aims to push the boundaries of self-expression and identity. Five digital artists who identify as women —Dr.AlexBox, Nina Hawkins, Clara Bacou, Serwah Attafuah, and Damara Ingles — were commissioned by Nars to design a unique line of NFTs that encapsulate self-expression drawing from the colors, textures, and spirit of the Orgasm shade. These custom digital artworks will be auctioned as exclusive single-edition pieces via SuperRare, a premier curated NFT marketplace for distinctive digital art.
In addition to an NFT, each artist has also designed an AR filter that includes their virtual makeup looks in the glistening, rich hues of Orgasm. These filters will be available on the NARS Instagram account on July 31, corresponding with National Orgasm Day as celebrated in the U.K., the U.S., Canada, and South Africa. The campaign, titled Orgasm, Activated, builds upon the success of previous Web3 activations that were inspired by Orgasm and aimed at democratizing access to digital collectibles and introducing women to the blockchain.
After launching Orgasm, Experienced, in July of 2021, this marks NARS’ second Web3 campaign of 2023. Orgasm, Activated encourages the beauty community to explore, collect, and experience the NARS Orgasm shade in completely new ways.
“In creating provocative art that leverages empowerment, we can break boundaries and encourage open and honest conversations about sexuality,” Ninocence (Nina Hawkins), one of the participating artists, said in a press release. “With this open discourse, we can promote a more inclusive culture, and enable people to express themselves more freely, inside and outside of their sexuality.”
MNTGE
MNTGE introduces Patchwork: an exclusive collection crafted by eleven artists with backgrounds in Web3, traditional art, and fashion, including notable names like XCOPY, All Seeing Seneca, OSF, Jen Stark, Christopher Torres (the creator of Nyan Cat) and Olive Allen. In tribute to the timeless nostalgia of vintage patches, MNTGE utilizes a range of production techniques, from intricate embroidery to hand-sewing and vivid color sublimation.
MNTGE patches merge the digital and physical using NFC (near-field communication) chips, enabling users to authenticate the patch’s provenance and blockchain ownership by simply tapping their phone. Artists have the ability to personalize patches with digital autographs created with just a finger swipe.
Commencing with Patchwork, every piece of MNTGE clothing will be linked to specific ERC-6551 token-bound accounts, allowing NFTs to possess their unique wallet. This feature transforms the MNTGE jean jacket into a functioning wallet capable of holding the tokenized patches sewn onto it, thereby providing the MNTGE community the opportunity to create unique on-chain identities tied to individual physical items.
Owners of patch designs from all 11 artists gain access to the ultimate prize: an exclusive vintage Star Jacket with each patch painstakingly hand-sewn onto it. Patchwork is minting now on Opensea. The sale will follow a random reveal format, meaning that purchasers will only discover which artist’s patch design they’ve acquired on August 2. Those who hold patches can claim their physical patches here at a yet-to-be-announced date in August.