NFT
The digital fashion movement was founded barely two years ago with a relatively simple premise: to bring clothes – both the every day and the lofty– to the virtual realm.
Despite the active efforts of many elite fashion to notice and Web3 native Startup however, a vibrant ecosystem of wearable digital fashion remains largely elusive. interoperability— the technology required for a digital asset like a virtual dress to traverse multiple online worlds — could be years away. And even if it worked now, most of the existing metaverse platforms will continue to exist awkward And poorly populated.
For Daniela Loftus, founder and CEO of digital fashion platform DRAUP, that’s a reality most digital fashion makers are either unaware of or don’t want to see.
“To harp, as many major digital fashion platforms are currently doing, on interoperability – when it doesn’t really seem like a valuable tool – is stupid,” said Loftus. Decrypt.
Behind the scenes. Image: DRAUP.
Loftus believes the current efforts of countless fashion designers and metaverse proponents to generate enthusiasm for wearable virtual fashion are misguided and disconnected from current market realities.
“There’s an echo chamber of 25 people who care about digital fashion, who think it can hit the mass market,” Loftus said. “But it literally can’t.”
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Therefore DRAUP and the inaugural collection – a series of 648 digital fashion pieces designed in collaboration with digital artist Nicolas Sassoon titled “Seen on Screen”– currently have nothing to do with interoperability or portability.
The pieces are all generative, meaning they come from digital textiles created by Sassoon, which are then algorithmically shaped into unique digital clothing items that are automatically called up during the coining process. The parameters of that algorithm were designed by Loftus and her colleagues.
The pieces are not portable. Sassoon calls them ‘optical sculptures’.
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Although Loftus got her get started in digital fashion as a strong advocate for virtual wearability, the experience of the past two years has enhanced her understanding of how fashion’s real-world utility – as a sign of status, taste and often wealth – translates best to the digital experience .
“If you’re honest about NFT collectors right now, it’s a lot of men — a lot of men who buy things because they’re a social signal, maybe as art, and for financial speculation,” Loftus said. “However, the carrier market is a lot of women. But those women are not willing to say, ‘I’m now going to send a social signal by instead of spending $3,000 on a Chanel bag, I’m going to spend $3,000 on a digital asset.’”
That revelation led Loftus to rethink how digital tools could be better leveraged to turn virtual fashion pieces into signals as powerful as real luxury purses and designer shoes. Leaning into the toolkit and ethos of generative works of art – which have been enraptured certain segments of the Web3 culture scene– came up as a natural answer.
“Code is the couture,” Loftus said of generative digital fashion. “Instead of saying, ‘This is how you wear it,’ it’s ‘What’s the story behind this trait? What’s the story behind this collaboration? How rare is it?’ It’s kind of selling it as a work of art.”
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Loftus envisions the pieces will be shared, enjoyed and discussed, much like generative artwork from collections such as Art blocks Are. That’s how they’re perceived, and that’s how they’re going to build social signal value — something, Loftus believes, that metaverse platforms are still years away from being able to meaningfully offer.
Ultimately, as technology catches up and wearability becomes more socially relevant, DRAUP plans to make its pieces metaverse-compatible. Until then, the pieces will only be available on the DRAUP platform. The company plans to release carefully curated, designer-focused collections like the current drop every few months for the foreseeable future.
“Seen on Screen” pieces will be released in three tiers: “SEAL” holders – members of the DRAUP community selected by the company’s leadership through an application process – will receive preferential access, as well as holders of Nicolas Sassoon one-on-one -an NFTs. Subsequently, members of DRAUP’s Discord “Insider” community, along with members of the 9dcc, Admit One, Ledger, and SYKY communities, will be granted access. a public admission list forms the third level of the collection.
