Nike & RTFKT’s first digital shoes are here. RTFKT, The virtual fashion, and 3D production firm, that Nike purchased in December 2021, showcasing a range of co-branded digital shoes on Twitter and Discord. The sneakers, branded Nike Cryptokicks, are fashioned after Nike Dunk sneakers and signal the brand’s long-awaited debut into digital apparel.
RTFKT — which was bought by Nike in late 2021 — was created in January 2020 and it has collaborated with the likes of Jeff Staple and Lexus, as well as Takashi Murakami, whose Clone X NFT continues to be among the most popular NFTs to date.
Cryptokicks is likely to be the first of several virtual releases from Nike and RTFKT, with reports already circulating of other releases in the works as early as next month.
The company will offer eight RTFKT-made evolutionary “skins” to start, which let people customize the shoes with multiple looks and design features, similar to a video-game skill tree, even though the evolution method isn’t yet initiated, says co-founder Benoit Pagotto, who worked in luxury fashion before founding RTFKT. RTFKT wants to provide the possibility for artists and partners to develop skins. At release, one of the skins was developed by Murakami.
Access to the digital shoes and skins has been limited to holders of RTFKT’s Monolith NFT, a token that symbolizes 12,950 pieces of the Monolith. In February, chunks of Monolith were airdropped to owners of RTFKT’s Clone X profile image NFTs.
The collection was published on the NFT platform OpenSea, with the digital shoes earning over 3,100 ETH ($8,720,000) in trading volume, now. A collection of ‘Skin Vials’ used to modify the shoes has produced additional 2,500 ETH ($7,040,000) in transaction volume.
In a comment on the Cyryptokicks launch, a Nike official stated, “Nike is focusing on possible ways to employ blockchain technology to benefit our consumers in the sporting footwear, clothing, and equipment area. The MNLTH is only the beginning to a future of helping sportsmen in this space.”
There seem to be no announced plans for holders of such NFTs to obtain real-life representations of their digital products, albeit a Snapchat filter was made so owners may wear their kicks in AR. It is part of a wider wager on digital fashion, a chance taken by more than just Nike.
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