Despite new developments such as Apple’s Vision Pro release and the artificial intelligence boom, Louis Vuitton is still cashing in on the non-fungible token (NFT) wave.
On Monday, the LVMH golden child dropped a digitized version of its leather varsity jacket – which originally appeared on its Fall/Winter 2024 men’s runway in January – to the 200 members of its Via community, the uber-exclusive NFT hub that launched in June last year.
Designed by the maison’s menswear creative director Pharrell Williams, the Western-inspired jacket features suede buckskin and an embroidered logo. It’s also the first ready-to-wear garment to be reimagined as an NFT from the brand, and arrives with a $8,400 (€7,900) price tag.
Via NFT holders can purchase the virtual jacket via a special token-gated website, and can expect to receive the physical version at the end of this year.
The jacket is the fourth digital token made available to the brand’s coterie of luxury Web3 enthusiasts. The first was a $42,000 limited-run version of the iconic LV trunk, which marked a watershed moment for NFTs in moving away from ‘crypto degens’ (aka individuals who engage in high-risk and speculative trading or investment strategies) towards high-net-worth consumers.
Now, as the behemoth fleshes out its technological playbook – from tapping augmented reality (AR) application Snapchat for its Yayoi Kusama collaboration to launching a Discord server last September – its NFT program has taken on a new business model of its own.
The house’s unique roadmap involves plucking notable items from its runway collections and rendering them into virtual tokens. First was the brand’s $9,000 orange monogram Speedy 40 bag, which appeared during Williams’ debut show last June, followed by a $6,300 phygital mini trunk in November, designed by women’s creative director Nicolas Ghesquière for the SS24 runway.
Meanwhile, competitors have adopted an entirely new approach to Web3. With NFTs losing their shine to the advent of new technologies, such as generative AI and virtual reality, their influence on the luxury market has waned.
Gucci, for example, recently tested the waters of Apple’s Vision Pro by releasing a mixed-reality version of its Who Is Sabato de Sarno? A Gucci Story mini documentary via the headset. The house hasn’t released a new NFT project since last year, when it rewarded its 10KTF token holders with exclusive physical branded pieces and teamed up with auction company Christie's on a collaborative digital art project.
But Louis Vuitton remains committed to its NFT-powered ambitions. Weathering the storm of crypto hype-cycles and dipping consumer interest, the brand has reignited buzz around NFTs by providing its community with a first-of-its-kind, gold-standard experience.
Competitors may have moved on to the latest shiny new thing in Web3 but, for Louis Vuitton at least, NFTs are here to stay.