The Luxury & Blockchain Industries: The Top 5 Highlights Times in 2021
The luxury industry is one of the most well-established sectors of the global economy, and it has proven itself to be an industry always up to adapting to changes and always open to new technologies. Now the question is, will blockchain technology and NFTs disrupt the luxury industry again after e-commerce? Well, since counterfeiting is undoubtedly one of the major issues for the luxury industry, it is clear that blockchain will surely have an impact and a major one.
The key benefits that blockchain technology can provide the luxury industry with include the authentication of physical assets as well as detailed and transparent product history and information. As expected, we are already witnessing a revolution: luxury brands slowly get out of their comfort zone and take steps to bridge the gap between their world of physical assets and blockchain by tying their products to NFTs.
It’s no secret that 2021 has been filled with a multitude of highly-promising NFT projects, and there are so many of them that we have decided to break down the top 5 highlights from the year. Prepare some coffee (or a glass of wine) and let’s have a look together.
Aura Blockchain Consortium
In April, LVMH and Prada — together with Cartier, a part of Richemont — announced the creation of the Aura Blockchain Consortium to promote the use of a single global blockchain solution that is open to all luxury brands worldwide. Aura’s technology enables direct-to-consumer access to product history, materials used, details on craftsmanship, and information on proof of authenticity.
Through this unprecedented collaboration, LVMH, Prada Group and Cartier have paved the way for luxury brands in their adoption of blockchain technology, and as such have together raised the industry standards, working to increase customers’ trust in the brands’ sustainable practices.
Louis Vuitton’s NFT game
In celebration of the LV founder Louis Vuitton’s 200th birthday and in honour of his legacy, the brand rolled out Louis the Game. The goal of the game is to find 200 collectible candles and reach the in-game festive birthday destination journeying six vibrant imaginary worlds with Vivienne, the protagonist.
The most exciting thing about the game portends to be the 30 exclusive NFTs designed by a digital artist Beeple. All NFTs are collectibles and cannot be sold.
Auction Houses & NFTs
If it is true that in the physical art market, artists’ primary sales are generated via galleries and auction houses that are themselves focused on secondary market sales, that is clearly not the case for digital artists. With digital art, auction houses prefer sourcing NFTs directly from the crypto artists.
In 2021 alone, the world-famous British-founded American broker of fine and decorative art, Sotheby’s, sold $65 million worth of NFTs. There’s an even more impressive number… Christie’s, a British auction house, did one better and sold over $100 million worth of NFTs.
In March, Beeple sold an NFT of his work, Everydays; The First 5000 Days, at Christie’s for an astonishing $69 million (we were shocked, too). That was the first piece of artwork — art which does not physically exist — sold by a major auction house.
Later in November, Christie’s sold Beeple’s new NFT, Human One, for $29 million.
Chito x Givenchy NFT
Givenchy is keeping up with the times as well. Earlier this year the brand teamed up with the Mexico-based artist Chito in order to create an exclusive NFT collection totaling 15 unique items. The Chito x Givenchy collaboration is a follow-up to Givenchy’s Spring 2022 pre-collection, in which the brand’s Creative Director Matthew M. Williams had Chito’s graphic prints on for clothes, accessories and RIMOWA suitcases.
The collection was released on the NFT marketplace, OpenSea, on November 23. One of the collectibles, PITTY (Bloody), was sold for 250 ETH (approx. $1.1 million).
First Patek Philippe NFT
Last but not least is Patek Philippe’s famous Nautilus.
In November, SM-ART, in partnership with a private collector from the Middle East, announced that it would auction off a Patek Philippe NFT, the first one in history. The platform’s users will be able to buy shares of the physical watch, as the watch will be converted into multiple non-fungible tokens. Future owners of these NFTs will have access to the Nautilus 5711/1A-010 full history, from its designer Gerald Genta’s first napkin sketches all the way through to its introduction to the public in 2006.
About LuxFi
LuxFi is the world’s first asset-backed NFT marketplace for luxury assets, where people can buy, sell and invest in luxury assets using cryptocurrencies and traditional payments. We eliminate counterfeiting while minting an NFT on a multi-chain blockchain network, with a focus on luxury assets that hold value well and have a high resale value. Leveraging our big data intelligence system and unique algorithm for automated data collecting and data processing, the value of each NFT on our platform is backed by real-world data.
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