The Italian high-end luxury brand Gucci is expanding further into Web 3.
Founded in Florence, the company is buying into its first decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) via a new partnership with non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace, SuperRare.
Gucci bought $25,000 worth of RARE tokens to join the SuperRareDAO. With its buy-in, Gucci is launching the “Vault Art Space,” an exhibition that will include 29 artists’ NFT artworks.
“We approached SuperRare for this knowing we could rely on our mutual effort to amplify the vision of this multifaceted group of artists,” Gucci Vault CEO Nicolas Oudinot told CoinDesk. “We were fascinated by SuperRare’s ability to provide [artists] with a platform to showcase their work in an innovative way, one that is built on a sense of community and that enhances interactions and decentralization as key tools to support both artists and collectors.”
This initiative came as many luxury brands introduce NFTs and look for other ways to utilize blockchain technology. Gucci dropped 10 NFTs, in February, through a collaboration with cult toy brand Superplastic.
Titled “The Next 100 Years of Gucci,” the exhibition is a series of collectible art pieces that celebrates Gucci’s heritage and future. “The vault is Gucci’s digital space,” SuperRare co-founder and chief product officer Jonathan Perkin says. “And they’re going to be working with artists and selling art through their space, which will be powered by SuperRare technology.”
Oudinot further added that the exhibition will consist of “a broad spectrum of artistic references.”
Perkins told CoinDesk the partnership will roll out in a series of phases after its first emergence in January and, would eventually come to include a gallery that will be live on SuperRare’s platform later this year.
For the first time the fashion house participated in a DAO, giving them governance rights within the SuperRare community. Perkins said that the initiative could set a trend for other big players after observation on what it means for a luxury brand to buy into a DAO.
Oudinot said that Gucci is looking to participate in a more “interconnected and decentralized economy” through the partnership.
Housed by Gucci, in three drops, the exhibition will be on display and auctioned off directly on Vault’s website. The first drop will occur June 23 to July 1, 2022, followed by the second between July 7 and July 15. The third drop will likely take place between July 21 to July 29.
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