The recent announcement follows Prada’s first successful foray with Adidas back in January when the duo collaborated for a crowd-sourced NFT in a Beeple-style collage of digital artwork.
The NFTs will be linked to its Timecapsule project, which kicked off in 2019. For those who don’t keep tabs on the luxury market – Timecapsule is an event held by Prada every first Thursday of each month – where a limited edition ready to wear product or accessory is up for sale for 24 hours on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Each item in the event comes with a different serial number, and the delivery is done in a custom box right to the buyer’s door. Prada plans to give out a free NFT starting from next Thursday’s launch on the 2nd of June. A gender-neutral physical product will be linked to the GIF version of the NFT, which represents the virtual replica of the physical product.
The event will focus on a new collaboration with musician Cassius Hirst, son of artist Damien Hirst. Last Thursday of the previous month saw the unveiling of the Cass x Prada collection – representing Prada America’s Cup sneaker style.
Thursday’s upcoming launch will feature a unisex shirt with Hirst’s signature mask and brain scan designs. The piece will come with a unique serial number and will be available in black and white colors, and a corresponding NFT. Price of the item will be revealed on the launch date. The series is expected to have 100 shirts accompanied by NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain. Aura Blockchain Consortium will facilitate the creation and management of the NFTs, a collaboration between LVMH, Prada and Cartier.
Previous buyers of the Timecapsule items will also be handed the corresponding NFTs, carrying exclusive perks and benefits. Recently launched brands’ discord channel, Prada Crypted – will highlight the benefits of the NFTs. As is with the entrepreneurial spirit of Web3, owners of the NFTs can trade the items freely in a secondary trading marketplace.
The company aims to take advantage of the limited-edition products by combining them with blockchain tech and using the scarcity and desirability of NFTs.
Prada won’t be the only luxury brand making moves in the Web3 space. Gucci recently announced similar plans for a product linked NFT initiative on the gaming platform Roblox. However, Gucci’s target audience will be mainly the gaming community, unlike Prada’s focus on its community of loyal customers and followers.
The next logical iteration for Prada might be to connect physical products to corresponding NFTs via RFID (radio frequency identification) – which would significantly improve the distribution and tracking of items.
