People care what their avatars are wearing. When the virtual world Decentraland in June said users could make and sell their own clothing for avatars to wear on the site, Hiroto Kai stayed up all night designing Japanese-inspired garments.
Selling kimonos for about US$140 each, he said he made US$15,000 to US$20,000 in just three weeks.
While the idea of spending real money on clothing that does not physically exist is baffling to many, virtual possessions generate real sales in the “metaverse” — online environments where people can congregate, walk around, meet friends and play games.
Digital artist and Japan enthusiast Kai’s real name is Noah. He is a 23-year-old living in New Hampshire in the US.
After making as much in those three weeks as he would earn in a year at his music store job, he quit to become a full-time designer.
“It just took off,” Kai said. “It was a new way to express yourself and it’s walking art, that’s what’s so cool about it... When you have a piece of clothing, you can go to a party in it, you can dance in it, you can show off and it’s a status symbol.”
In Decentraland, clothing for avatars — known as “wearables” — can be bought and sold on the blockchain in the form of a crypto asset called a non-fungible token (NFT).
Kai’s kimonos include exquisite crushed blue velvet pieces with golden dragon trim.
NFTs exploded in popularity earlier this year, as speculators and crypto enthusiasts flocked to buy the new asset, which represents ownership of online-only items such as digital art, trading cards and land in online worlds.
The niche crypto assets are also capturing the attention of some of the world’s biggest fashion companies, keen to associate themselves with a new generation of gamers — although most of their forays so far are for marketing.
Louis Vuitton launched a metaverse game where players can collect NFTs, and Burberry has created branded NFT accessories for Blankos Block Party, a game owned by Mythical Games Inc. Gucci has sold non-NFT clothing for avatars within the game Roblox.
“Your avatar represents you,” said Imani McEwan, a Miami-based fashion model and NFT enthusiast. “Basically what you’re wearing is what makes you who you are.”
McEwan said he has spent US$15,000 to US$16,000 on 70 NFT wearable items since January, using profit from cryptocurrency investments. His first purchase was a bitcoin-themed sweater and he recently bought a black beret designed by his friend.
The overall size of the NFT wearables market is difficult to establish. In Decentraland alone wearable sales volume totaled US$750,000 in the first half of this year, up from US$267,000 in the same period last year, said NonFungible.com, a Web site which tracks the NFT market.
Some proponents say wearables and shopping in virtual shops could be the future of retail.
“Instead of scrolling through a feed and shopping online, you can have a more immersive brand experience by exploring a virtual space — whether you are shopping for your online avatar or buying physical products that can be shipped to your door,” said Julia Schwartz, director of Republic Realm, a US$10 million virtual real-estate investment vehicle that has built a shopping mall in Decentraland.
For NFT enthusiasts, online fashion does not replace physical purchases.
However, Paula Sello and Alissa Aulbekova, cofounders of the digital fashion start-up Auroboros, say it could be an environmentally friendly alternative to fast fashion.
Customers can send Auroboros an image of themselves and have clothing digitally added for ￡60 to ￡1,000 (US$83.19 to US$1,386.50).
Sello said that the virtual garment concept could limit the waste of consumers buying clothes to wear on social media, citing a 2018 Barclaycard study which found that 9 percent of British shoppers have bought clothes for social media photographs, then returned them.
“We need to have the shift now in fashion. The industry simply cannot continue,” Sello said.
Virtual sneaker company RTFKT sells limited-edition NFTs representing sneakers that can be “worn” in some virtual worlds or on social media via a Snapchat filter.
“It really took off when COVID started and loads of people went more online,” RTFKT cofounder and chief executive Steven Vasilev said.
The company has posted US$7 million in sales, with limited edition sneakers selling in auctions for US$10,000 to US$60,000, he said.
While the majority of customers are in their 20s and 30s, some are as young as 15.
RTFKT’s NFTs can also be used as a token to receive a free physical version of the shoe, but one in 20 customers do not redeem that token.
“I didn’t do the redemption stuff because I couldn’t be bothered,” said Jim McNelis, a Dallas-based NFT buyer who founded NFT company nft42. “I try to avoid the physical stuff as much as possible.”
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan
RSS