In their first strut in the ever-growing non-fungible token (NFT) market, ultra-luxury fashion brand, Dolce & Gabbana has smashed records by selling at $6m. 

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Earlier this year we saw both Burberry and Louis Vuitton breaking into NFTs using gaming as an on-ramp, but the Dolce & Gabbana ‘Collezione Genesi’ (or Genesis Collection), was the first of its kind, featuring both physical and virtual couture. 

The collection came about after Shashi Menon, the Dubai-based publisher of Vogue Arabia and founder and CEO of UNXD, a digital luxury marketplace, pitched the concept to the fashion house and apparently the duo were incredibly excited about the project. 

“Tradition and innovation have been two essential topics for us since the very beginning – when we first started, we were transported by innovation; then we discovered that we still needed our roots. We wanted to understand, in an era like this, where there is a new digital generation, how we might be able to talk and have a better dialogue with our experiences, traditions and the handmade, and combine all of this with innovation.” - Dolce 

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The Dress from a Dream in silver, The Dress from a Dream in gold & The Glass Suit  - Source: UNXD

NFTs Blending The Physical and Digital Realms

Of the nine-piece collection, five were physical designs by Dolce & Gabbana. UNXD created virtual iterations for the metaverse on the Polygon blockchain. This included two versions of The Dress from a Dream, in gold and in silver, both with shimmering beads and crystal accents. Others included The Glass Suit, an emerald green men’s suit, similarly embellished; and two gold-plated and gem-studded silver crowns, called The Lion Crown and The Doge Crown. The remaining four pieces were solely digital pieces based on sketches from the brand’s designers. 

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The Impossible Tiara, a digital NFT Source: UNXD

Included with each NFT sale was the promise of exclusive D&G experiences and invitations to future Alta Moda events.

All in all, the auction raked in just over $6 million, after the Ethereum price saw a spike in the week of the sales. The highest price was paid for The Doge Crown, an opulent headdress with seven blue sapphires and 142 diamonds, which went for 423.50 Ether, or $1.25 million at the time of the auction, bought by Red DAO.  

Dolce & Gabbana’s Future NFT Plans 

The name of the collection hints at this being the first of more to come from the fashion house. Apparently, they plan to introduce DGFamily, a crypto community with four levels of membership, the highest tier being gold, made up, at least at first, of the 'Collezione Genesi' buyers. 

Next to come is an NFT collection of digitally handcrafted jewel boxes that will open access to further digital and physical drops and experiences.

Gravity’s NFT Marketplace 

Running on the BSV network, the imminent Gravity NFT Marketplace is expected to lower the barrier to entry with fees as little as $0.02, compared to the likes of OpenSea at $60, or even $200 on Rarible. With the appetite for NFTs nowhere near abating, we’re pumped about getting the Gravity Marketplace up and running.  

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