Gucci, the Italian high-end luxury fashion house, has joined hands with popular non-fungible token (NFT) powerhouse Yuga Labs to boost its footing in the Web3 space by, “exploring the intersection between fashion and entertainment in the metaverse.”
Popularity of crypto subecosystems like Web3, metaverse and NFT is skyrocketing each passing day. As these technologies continue tomature and gain mainstream adoption, more and more companies from different industries flock to embrace this evolving intersection of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR).
Multi-billion-dollar companies such as Meta, NVIDIA, Nike, United Postal Service (UPS), JP Morgan including scores of other companies have already joined the Web3 craze. Recently, as per reports, the world’s largest retailer, Amazon, has also started experimenting with Web3 technology.
Amid this growing interest, major luxury fashion brands including Prada, Versace, and Balmain among a host of other fashion brands have jumped on the Web3 bandwagon with several features like NFT releases, crypto payment options and digital stores in the metaverse.
Fashion in the Metaverse
In the latest development, Gucci announced a multi-year partnership with Bored Ape Yacht Club’s Yuga Labs. The deal will reportedly bolster engagement between both the company’s communities by traversing the convergence of the fashion and entertainment industries in the metaverse. In a statement by Robert Triefus, Gucci Senior Executive of Gucci Vault & Metaverse Ventures, the company is excited to reveal its interdisciplinary collaboration with Yuga Labs.
Continuing to explore the Metaverse, the House comes together with @yugalabs. Stay tuned as a new narrative takes shape, blurring the boundaries between the physical and digital. pic.twitter.com/v60mzcgqqY
— gucci (@gucci) March 27, 2023
The partnership will also help the two giants to explore the Web3 space along with amplifying their focus on various other projects such as with The Otherside and 10KTF. In March 2022, Gucci inked a deal with popular NFT project, 10KTF, to launch its own non-fungible token (NFT) collection. The fashion brand will also play an active role in the Otherside metaverse, Yuga Labs’ virtual gaming platform. Triefus added,
“We are excited to unveil this multifaceted partnership with Yuga Labs, a leader, and creative pioneer in web3. This will give us an active role in Otherside and 10KTF’s continuing narrative, unfolding in multiple forms.”
Gucci’s Tryst with Crypto
This is not the first time Gucci has dabbled with crypto. Last year, the Italian fashion house announced that it will accept Bored Ape Yacht Club-affiliated, ApeCoin (APE), at select U.S. stores, becoming the first major brand to accept payments in APE. Not only this, the iconic fashion house entered the metaverse in the same year, by buying a plot of digital land in The Sandbox.
Now accepting @ApeCoin payments via @BitPay, select Gucci boutiques in the USA expand the range ofcryptocurrencies available for in-store purchases, yet another step in the House's exploration of Web3.
— gucci (@gucci) August 2, 2022
In 2021, Gucci auctioned a non-fungible token inspired by its Fall/Winter 2021 collection hosted by auction house Christie’s. Some months later, the brand unveiled Gucci Garden on Roblox to mark its 100th anniversary, allowing the platform’s then-42 million users to purchase collectibles.
