Adidas today unboxed Virtual Gear, the brand’s first interoperable product, to mark the beginning of the next stage of its Web3 strategy. Adidas’s first 16-piece line of virtual wearables is now available as NFTs for Phase 2 Capsule NFT holders to add to their wallets.
“I love the opportunity this collection represents for our most engaged community of holders. Every capsule holder has a choice at launch – burn and express their virtual identity with adidas’ first Virtual Gear collection, or list and allow others to join this community,” shared Erika. “No matter what, no matter where – adidas is synonymous with the boundary breakers. Now, in whatever realities they choose to inhabit.”
Says Adidas’s Web3 Studio Global VP, Erika Wykes-Sneyd.
Adidas has traditionally only made tangible goods that people could wear. With 16 outfits created to be worn by online avatars, this collection represents the brand’s evolution with the digital era, uniting the virtual and physical worlds.
Each piece of the drop is interoperable with other identity-based projects, PFP NFT collections, and virtual worlds. Holders will be able to utilize Adidas’s new PFP dressing tool to flex their fresh three-stripe outfits on numerous PFP avatars and in a variety of metaverses.
Erika explained that Adidas customers want to be able to express and try on different versions of themselves that everyday life might not allow them to.
Speaking to the latest Virtual Gear, Erika said, “it allows you to hold onto the pieces that feel really special to you and also trade them. We’re going across whatever virtual identity you adapt because we’re not just gonna tie it to one profile picture or one specific community. It’s going to be flexible and fluid across every collection that’s out there, which is really exciting.”
“Anyone can be a part of this journey,” Erika added.
Adidas started its journey into the metaverse (ITM) one year ago, in December 2021, when it released 30,000 officially licensed Adidas Originals NFTs and made its first Web3 pledge.
Impossible is (probably) nothing ?
10/10 pic.twitter.com/lHbwsthfZc
— adidas Originals (@adidasoriginals) December 20, 2021
In partnership with Bored Ape Yacht Club, Gmoney, and Punks Comic, Adidas was able to make almost $23 million USD from the sale of the NFT collection, which was completely sold out in a couple of hours.
After the launch, holders could “burn” their NFTs in April 2022 in return for tangible goods. This was followed by the unveiling of Ozworld, an avatar creation platform that leverages AI to create personality-driven avatars.
In May 2022, Adidas revealed Phase 2 of ITM and conducted one of the largest NFT airdrops to date – in which holders are finally being surprised with the unboxing of the hidden content inside their mysterious capsules.
Indigo’s been busy. If you claimed Phase 2 and held through the snapshot, it’s time to check your wallet ? pic.twitter.com/1Jyw8W2reP
— adidas Originals (@adidasoriginals) June 3, 2022