Virtual hoodie sells for £19,000 as a nonfungible token
A virtual hoodie has sold for £19,000, bought as a non-fungible token (NFT).
The black hoodie from the streetwear fashion label Overpriced, emblazoned with an expletive-laden logo in neon green graffiti font, sold on the digital art marketplace Blockparty.co to an anonymous bidder who, through scanning a code, can now “wear” the garment in virtual settings online.
It follows the virtual shoe brand RTFKT Studios’ recent collaboration with the “crypto artists” Fewocious to create a range of virtual footwear, which sold for £2.2m, selling out in seven minutes.
NFTs are one-of-a-kind assets that can take the form of anything digital and can be traded for something else, whether that is cryptocurrency or another piece of digital kit.
Overpriced describes itself as a brand which creates “fashion for the crypto generation”. Its co-founder Leighton James told Hypebeast: “We are a group of artists looking to create art-powered crypto fashion that aims to challenge the conceptions of what luxury fashion is.”
Last week, the art collective MITNFT, announced a series of NFTs featuring the supermodel Kate Moss. Three artworks – Drive with Kate, Walk with Kate and Sleep with Kate – which, according to Vogue, were shot at her home and sold as a limited edition of one, authenticated by Moss herself.
The Italian designer Angelo Galasso has produced a range of NFT wallets, backpacks and keychains, in collaboration with the artist Lee Robinson.
“NFTs provide a unique way for artists to designate what is real and what is authentic,” said James. “Our customers are purchasing unique wearable art that no one else in the world has.” The Overpriced hoodie can also be worn physically in the real world.
Last month Gucci created the Virtual 25 – a pair of virtual neon green and pink trainers made to be worn in virtual, augmented reality worlds. Robert Triefus, of Gucci’s brand and customer engagement department, told Vogue Business it was “only a matter of time” before it released an NFT.
The speculative market around one-of-a-kind NFTs has been enjoying a boom. The Kings of Leon became the first band to release an album in an NFT format, Grimes has amassed about £4m for sales of digital art in the format, while the Twitter chief executive, Jack Dorsey, sold his first tweet for more than £2m.