decrypt.co
The luxury fashion brand Salvatore Ferragamo is joining the swelling ranks of designers getting into NFTs.
As a part of a new concept store opening in the Soho district of New York City, opening Friday, Ferragamo has installed an NFT booth where customers can create and mint their own Ethereum NFTs from a menu of traits.
NFTs are unique tokens that exist on a blockchain like Ethereum or Solana and signify ownership over an asset, like a piece of digital art. All of the NFTs created at the Ferragamo booth will be free to visitors, but only 256 can be minted in total.
The brand has partnered with the artist Shxpir to create the traits and visual elements for its NFTs. Shxpir creates psychedelic, 3D digital art with glitch and surrealist elements, and has also designed a limited-edition capsule collection of physical items for Ferragamo consisting of 200 t-shirts and 150 sweatshirts.
Shxpir is no stranger to high-fashion NFTs—the artist also worked with Coach this month to develop colorful holographic NFTs featuring Coach handbags.
Daniella Vitale, North America CEO for Ferragamo, shared why the brand chose to work with Shxpir in a statement: “Shxpir reflects the energy of New York City and Soho. He’s able to evocatively juxtapose grit with luxury in a way that not many others can.”
In a press release, Ferragamo called its NFT booth a “multi-sensory” experience that “blends the worlds of Web3 and in-person retail.”
“One of the key aims we set out to achieve with the NFT project was to make it an inherently personal experience,” Vitale said.
“We know that the world of Web3 can be somewhat intimidating. As such, this project has been conceptualized in a way that demystifies the system,” she added. “Even if you’re not experienced in NFTs or if you don’t have a wallet, we’ll guide you through the steps required.”
Guests can enter a mirrored space and choose from Shxpir’s designs and additional traits to make their own NFT background, all while a video camera captures the scene. They will then receive the background they designed as a standalone NFT as well as a video of themselves with their chosen art behind them.
Ferragamo’s personalized NFTs might seem gimmicky to some, but to others, it may feel like a next-generation photo booth, where IRL moments are captured and shared on the blockchain.