Adidas reveals new NFT project with Bored Ape Yacht Club
Sneakerheads have long been tech trendsetters, from social drops to AR try-on. The latest land-grab for cultural cachet? The metaverse.
After weeks of planted leaks, Adidas is ready to unveil a broad metaverse strategy that partners with some of the hottest names in the fledgling metaverse community and leans heavily on the hypebeast playbook. The complex project encompasses limited-edition drops and scarcity (NFTs grant access to physical products); logos with cultural currency (including profile pictures, or PFPs, of Bored Apes, whose high-profile owners include Jimmy Fallon and Steph Curry); exclusivity and community (access to metaverse experiences); and zeitgeisty collaborations (Adidas is tapping into existing communities with in-built hype).
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Adidas Originals, the fashion and lifestyle subdivision of the German sportswear giant, is launching an NFT collection of both physical and digital products, sold on 17 December and available in 2022, Vogue Business can exclusively reveal. The collection is being revealed through digital and physical comic books, created in collaboration with a host of trending metaverse players: PFP phenomenon Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), NFT influencer Gmoney and comics series Punks Comics.
The Adidas NFTs are available via a metaverse destination on the Adidas website. At press time, the price had yet to be determined, but was expected to be comparable to premium fashion prices (a spokesperson said, “we are still fine-tuning certain elements to ensure that when they drop, it’s the best possible solution for our consumers”.) The people who are already members of the Adidas drop app, called Confirmed, get a special NFT badge (called a POAP, or proof of attendance protocol), to establish their early presence; only 8,000 were issued. This gives them early access to buy the “Into the metaverse” NFT. Owners of the NFTs, of which an undisclosed amount will be issued, receive digital items to wear in metaverse world The Sandbox (with other platforms in the works), the exclusive ability to purchase physical products to wear in real life, and access to special digital and physical experiences. Adidas also purchased 144 parcels of virtual land in The Sandbox, to which it will add content and experiences.
“It’s a flip of the normal business model where we make stuff and hope people will buy it,” says Adidas senior director of digital growth Tareq Nazlawy. “You’re not just buying the product. You’re becoming a member of this community.”
