Online sneaker marketplace The Edit Ldn is opening the digital doors to its first premium store in the metaverse. The shop will operate within Bloktopia, a VR skyscraper with 21 floors to represent Bitcoin’s hard cap of 21 million. Having built relationships with sneakerheads around the world, the company will expand its offerings to include web3 collectors.
The project will kick off with an “Edit LDN” sneaker NFT that gives users access to both a metaverse-based sneaker and a physical pair. An early look at the virtual shop’s interior presents a glimpse of a shiny gold sneaker, but the company has yet to fully disclose what exactly the sneakers will look like.
Bloktopia offers an interoperable alternative to other platforms such as Fortnite. Its metaverse exists in the Unity gaming engine in web3 and allows visitors to play games, socialize, earn and learn about crypto, and shop virtual products (which in this case will be sneakers). Bloktopia’s Chief Executive Ross Tavakoli said in a press release that the NFT sneakers won’t just be limited to one metaverse either, but hundreds. “That makes the fashion industry and the metaverse such a good fit, as it creates a whole new income stream for our partners like Edit LDN,” Tavakoli said.
The Edit Ldn has grown 525 percent in its first two years in operation and is on track for another 500 percent growth in its third year. According to The Edit Ldn founder Moses Rashid, the partnership and virtual store was a natural next step. Many streetwear brands and luxury fashion houses alike are embracing the metaverse as the market’s audiences continue to shift their interests to digital assets, crypto, and NFTs. “We clearly see a trend that luxury brands need a web3 strategy, and for us, this feels like a natural fit,” he said.
While small, independent brands are still dabbling in NFTs, big-name luxury brands are truly spearheading fashion’s web3 entrance — probably because they have the funds to back the expensive venture. Launching an Ethereum-contracted NFT can cost anywhere between 30 to 120 times more in USD than a physical product, and there are entire platforms dedicated to virtual fashion.
Labels like Gucci and Prada don’t seem to be slowing down, but The Edit Ldn’s sneaker store could present a new playing ground for digital sneakerheads. We’ll just have to wait and see if the resellers will follow suit.
