The advent of Web 3 and expanding NFTs have digitized the fashion industry and created diverse opportunities for brands to engage with their fans in ways that wouldn’t have been possible before now. Fashion brands are not looking the other way, and have unsurprisingly gotten into the act.
Sneakers are the first to be impacted by this evolution. Over the last couple of years, collectors and sneaker freaks have been purchasing and reselling NFT sneakers on the secondary market for mind-boggling prices. Proof of this is the value of the resale market in 2021, which was $6 billion.
French startup Sneakmart has gotten into the sneaker madness. The community-driven streetwear app launched in January 2021, has unveiled its NFT sneaker collections titled Metakicks. Metakicks is the first NFT mystery sneakers box collection in the metaverse, and the streetwear app aims to use this launch to attract consumers to the Metaverse.
Encouraging the Paradigm of Collecting Digital Limited-Edition Sneakers
The rarity of limited-edition sneakers is the reason collectors utilize every opportunity to own one. These days, owning an NFT pair of sneakers is a status symbol, and that’s why they have high resale value. Some pairs sell for up to 10x their original retail price on the secondary market. It’s nothing short of mind-blowing.
Sneakmart doesn’t want to shift the paradigm. Instead, it wants to encourage the art of collecting digital sneakers. According to them, buying a physical pair of sneakers to resell them later is indifferent from purchasing a digital pair and reselling them for profit.
While speaking on launching Sneak, the CEO Anthony Debrant, disclosed that the aim of Metakicks is to give digital collectors the opportunity to add to their growing list of NFT sneakers.
“Sneaker addicts love to collect and wear a lot of sneakers. Everyone loves sneakers today, everyone wears them. With Metakicks, we want to give the opportunity to start collecting digital sneakers through unique designs.”
Last month, Nike purchased RTFKT, a startup that sells digital sneakers and accessories as NFTs for $700 million. Sneakmart is positioning itself differently with NFTs, as the brand aims to offer its digital sneakers at a more affordable price on the primary market.
Availability and Launch Date
According to Sneakmart, 625 pairs of sneakers crafted from 15 unique designs will be inside 6,250 boxes. Inside these boxes are different models from different brands. The luckiest owner will have a pair of Jordan 1 High Dior and four pairs of Jordan in collaboration with Travis Scott valued at over $15,000.
Metakicks will be available on the Sneakmart website. Purchasers can participate in the whitelist sale, which will give the whitelisters one mystery box and a discount or the public sale slated for February 2022.
