Prada is joining top luxury brands like Gucci, Balmain, and Balenciaga in participating in Web3 and releasing its own NFTs.
Prada, an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1913 by Mario Prada, that specializes in all things fashion accessories are now joining all other top brands in participating in blockchain applications like NFTs (non-fungible tokens). Prada said they will be launching 100 of its Ethereum NFTs this Thursday to match with its latest released Timecapsule apparel.
NFTs are unique digital assets stored on the blockchain to stand as a representation of proof of ownership of a digital asset. But with Prada, they will allow buyers of their physical merchandise purchased from their latest collaboration with Cassiys Hirst, the son of the artist Damien Hirst, to receive a free complimentary Ethereum NFT to go with it. Though, Prada NFT will be doing its drop differently from the way Damien did theirs. Unlike how Damien makes buyers pick between digital or physical assets, Prada NFT drop with Cassius will not press buyers to choose between digital or physical assets, Instead, they will allow them to have both.
The Prada x Cassius Hirst unisex button-down shirts are available in black or white, and the NFT they will be launching, will be available in GIF of the black or white pill capsule. The NFTs will refer to the serial number of the drop, and also include numbering that will be associated with each physical shirt bought, so as to have an exact correspondence. And as we all know, the Prada’s Hirsts is not a newb to the NFT space. The first collection by Damien called “The Currency,” was minted back in July of 2021 and as of now the lowest (floor) price is 5.2 ETH ($9,360) per NFT, just after a year later.
Aura Blockchain Consortium, a non-profit association based in Switzerland, is behind the Prada NFT drop. Aura is a non-profit association founded by LVMH, Prada, and Cartier, with the purpose to promote sustainable, socially responsible, and customer-centric business practices, centered throughout the lifecycle of luxury products by leveraging blockchain and other technologies. It utilizes Quorum, a blockchain platform based on Ethereum that offers blockchain-as-a-service, ConsenSys Rollups, and other blockchain-related services.
Prada also recently partnered with Adidas, a sportswear brand to release the “Adidas for Prada re-source” collection which was launched in the Polygon network in January. So this is definitely not Prada’s first NFT project. Prada Timecapsule drops started way back in 2019 as a way to launch a limited edition of items. According to a statement, people who have purchased their recently released Tmecapsule drops will have the advantage of receiving their NFTs as time passes by.
Conclusion
The attempt of the brand Prada to participate more in the NFT space doesn’t mean the brand is shifting its focus away from physical items, instead, the foray into NFTs is only for them to use NFTs as a kind of free bonus for those who purchase some of their products. Although some people are still skeptical and some don’t even know about NFT yet, luxury brands just like Prada are making use of the benefit of product authentication they could generate from Blockchain technology.
