At Art Basel Miami, the first true test of Web3’s fashion perks

Similarly, events for big PFP collections including Bored Ape Yacht Club and World of Women were almost entirely token-gated. “Token-gated everything,” said Arianee founder and CEO Pierre-Nicolas Hurstel at the end of the week. (Arianee worked with Vogue Business on a Member-only NFT to provide token-gating at an event in South Beach.) 

Prada invited holders of its October Timecapsule NFT drop (which paired a luxury, limited-edition shirt with an artsy NFT) to join celebrities, CEOs and influencers at the Faena Forum for “Prada Extends”, an event curated by electronic musician and Prada collaborator Richie Hawtin, also known as “Plastikman”, among other aliases. (Prada previously invited a Crypted community member to attend an elaborate experience during Milan Fashion Week.) It’s worth noting that many in the crowd were wearing Prada, but most had not been able to get their hands on the October Crypted drop, because they sell so fast, according to multiple attendees — which is admittedly not a terrible outcome for the brand.

An emphasis on physical and digital

The community rewards expanded beyond access to physical events to include physical goods and, naturally, face-to-face meetings. Attendees at the World of Women gala — whose awards ceremony included an award for digital fashion design — were treated to a surprise performance from electronic duo Sofi Tukker. Digital fashion and design was an important element because World of Women “recognises digital identity, through fashion and design, should be portable, customisable and represent each user’s full digital footprint in Web3 and beyond,” says World of Women partnerships manager Diana-Luk Ye. Plus, she notes, World of Women is the first female-centric NFT brand to break through to the mainstream, so it’s important to empower digital identity in new ways.

Balmain introduced a metaverse world and project with visual artist Alexandre Arrechea inspired by the 1950s-era Villa Balmain; digital animations are paired with physical masks made of Swarovski crystals.