Miami Art Week embraces digital fashion, NFTs and Web3
Celebrities, art collectors, and emerging tech enthusiasts flocked to Miami last week for the city’s annual Art Week festival – where did Web3 show up?
Published December 11, 2023
Drawing in discerning art collectors, fashion moguls, Hollywood heavyweights, and emerging tech proponents from across the globe, Miami’s annual art week is an opportunity for both traditional fashion houses and promising newcomers to diversify their audience.
In recent years, the cultural hotbed has also been valorized as the official stomping ground for Web3 enthusiasts, with many flocking to the city to connect, share, and soak up the evolving digital art scene. This year’s meetup was no different, with the likes of Web3 design studio Rtfkt and digital fashion house Syky unveiling new activations, each stretching the boundaries of what constitutes ‘luxury’ fashion today. Here’s our round up of the Web3 fashion and beauty events from the week.
Syky x Glitchofmind #
In conjunction with Miami Art Week’s pinnacle event Art Basel, digital fashion house Syky launched its latest collection from visual artist and designer Glitchofmind, a rising talent from Syky’s incubator. The designer’s debut virtual fashion collection fuses art, fashion, and editorial to create what Glitchofmind describes as “storytelling couture.” Four artworks inspired by biomaterials were available to mint for three days following Syky’s official lunch launch event on December 7. An extra asset, dubbed “The Whisperer,” was also airdropped to Syky Keystone holders who originally minted the couture piece “The Weaver.”
Shiseido #
Following the launch of its world-first AI-powered non-fungible token (NFT) beauty community program in February, Japanese beauty label Shiseido headed across the pond to Miami Art Week to unveil a new NFT generative art project on December 6. “Future Reflections” marked the second cutting-edge activation to arrive from the skincare pioneer, and tapped esteemed next-gen artists Hannah Yan, Jen Stark, Kaoru Tanaka, and Robert Hodgin to create algorithm-enabled, one-of-a-kind creations. The activation was also powered by minting technology leader Art Blocks Engine.
Miami Art Week visitors could head over to the digital art fair, Gateway at Faena Forum from December 6 to 8 to explore the collection alongside other immersive installations from Christie’s, LG, Wilder World, Mercedes-Benz and Lens Protocol.
Rtfkt x Ledger #
Perhaps the calendar’s most high-profile Web3 activation of the week, emerging tech giants Rtfkt and Ledger announced their newest collaboration on December 6 by hosting their own exclusive reveal party. Celebrating the launch of the “Rtfkt x Ledger collaboration Nano and Vial Case” project, which drops on Wednesday this week, the duo invited dedicated token collectors and enthusiasts to mark the occasion at private members club Soho House Wynwood. The new, super limited-edition (only 1,000 will be available) hardware cases, inspired by Rtfkt’s future-facing aesthetic, also arrives with its own unique collectable NFT.