adidas Originals is releasing a limited collection of blockchain-based virtual wearables on adidas.com/metaverse in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The launch of the first NFT collection of wearables, which adidas calls “Virtual Gear” and is a new, interoperable product category, speeds up adidas Originals’ work to strengthen its community-based, member-first, open metaverse strategy.
The 16-piece collection was revealed after a teaser campaign with the adidas Discord community and is available in the wallets of existing Phase 2 Capsule NFT holders. It is a creative and cultural milestone in the brand’s history, connecting the past and future, the virtual and the real, communities and creators, culture and identity.
Speaking on the launch, VP of the adidas /// studio (‘Three Stripes Studio’), Erika Wykes-Sneyd said, “We’re laying down a marker in this new age of originality – one that unquestionably serves the community, heroes the purveyors and collectors of emerging style and culture, benefits the value creators, and supports the diversity of expression and utility that blurring virtual worlds has allowed us all to explore.
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Wykes-Sneyd continued, “I love the opportunity this collection represents for our most engaged community of holders. Every capsule holder has a choice at launch – burn and express their virtual identity with adidas’ first Virtual Gear collection, or list and allow others to join this community. With our community and creator ecosystem at the core, adidas will explore every viable utility, platform, and experience within Web3 to unlock new possibilities for our wearables, with a focus on tangible value and immutable utility for our community members. No matter what, no matter where – adidas is synonymous with the boundary breakers. Now, in whatever realities they choose to inhabit.”
Every piece in the latest NFT offering can be worn by virtual avatars and is accessible through a PFP dressing tool. It can also be used with other identity-based projects and worlds. This means that the adidas collection can respond to and adapt to the metaverse environments that are being built. This makes the “Virtual Gear” ready for all Web3 frontiers.
With designs like “C2172” and “SPACE CRYSTAL,” the collection itself looks forward to a future that hasn’t happened yet. “WALLRUNNER” and “P.F.D. – Personal Floatation Device” are playful takes on the creative potential of the brand that pay homage to the endless possibilities of metaverse worlds. Then, designs like the “NEOBONE,” which is based on the pattern of the rubber sole on the classic Superstar silhouette, give subtle nods to iconic parts of adidas Originals’ unique DNA.
As part of the brand’s ongoing work with its earliest Web3 partners, the collection also includes three limited-edition wearables designed by Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), Gmoney, and Punks Comics. Each piece shows off the creative style of one of these three groups.
Nic Galway, Senior VP of Creative Direction for adidas Originals added, “As a brand, adidas has always been about exploring the edges of creativity and pushing the boundaries to find what’s beyond. But Web3 offers our designers and collaborators a new outlet to imagine, and reimagine, how our brand can be represented in augmented and virtual worlds. Creatively, we’re extremely proud to say that this virtual collection represents more than just a historic first for adidas. It also represents an idea of wearable clothing that can transcend time and space, a community that is vividly diverse, and a level of utility that can be explored and even discovered as worlds and avatars take new forms.”
On November 16, the very limited wearables collection will be released. Owners of the adidas Originals: Capsule NFT Collection, which was released in May 2022 as part of one of the largest NFT Airdrops in history, will be able to find out which of the 16 unique pieces they have been given once they choose to reveal and replace their Capsule NFT.
This means they will have to agree to “burn” the Capsule NFT they currently hold in order to generate at random one of the 16 new digital wearable NFTs.
