Today, the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) announced a collaboration with the Sandbox Metaverse. The trade association plans to use the Metaverse for its fashion exhibition as a retrospective to mark its 60th anniversary. The showcase will highlight designs from Maisons such as Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan and Oscar de la Renta.

Additionally, when the exhibition opens in December, many designers have agreed to create their own non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which will be sold to benefit the CFDA Foundation. The fundraising event, “Lighting the Path of American Fashion,” features designs by Diane Von Furstenberg, Michael Kors, Wes Gordon for Carolina Herrera, Tommy Hilfiger, Coach, Willie Chavalier, Aurora James for Brother Velize, and Vivian Tam.

Attracting these big names is no small feat. Especially since designers are known for their attention to detail, and their designs have to be reinterpreted for voxel environments (the low-res, pixelated avatars supported by The Sandbox).

“As we celebrate the 60th anniversary of Eleanor Lambert’s founding of CFDA, we want to not only commemorate some of our greatest moments, but also use this milestone as an opportunity to look to the future.” said Steven Kolb, CEO of CFDA. “CFDA has always been a pioneer in creative and innovative thinking, embracing this new era of digital transformation with the first Metaverse exhibition and her NFTs.”

Quite a few crypto companies were involved in arranging the event: 5Crypto is the creative agency, Polygon is the blockchain used for NFTs, BNV is the fashion NFT marketplace and Arianee is the web3 platform for luxury fashion. .

The luxury fashion sector is already making great use of NFTs and the Metaverse. In a report last year, Morgan Stanley estimated that luxury goods in the Metaverse could boast €50 billion ($60 billion) in revenue for her by 2030. And because the items are digital, that revenue comes at a much higher profit margin.

Decentraland, TheSandbox’s web3 metaverse competitor, held a virtual fashion week last March. Attendees included Dolce & Gabbana, Estée Lauder and Forever 21.

Examples of luxury fashion brands that have already launched NFTs include Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Bvlgari and Jimmy Choo.