New York Fashion Week is nearly here, and for the first time Maakola will be a part of it. It’s not something we ever imagined ourselves doing before, as a traditional runway show doesn’t support our ethos of conscious consumption. This season, however, we’ll be hitting the runway in a collaborative and sustainable way that’s true to our values.
It’s all thanks to Web3. We’ve spent three years exploring the potential of the metaverse, and now we’re finally ready to create our first phygital experience as part of NYFW. During the Electric Feel Fashion Show powered by Creativo, Metaburnet and Luxlock As well as presenting some of our key pieces, we’ll also be using technologies including our first-ever NFTs to enable a new dimension of fashion – one that is authentic, collective and creative.
Pushing the boundaries of creativity
NFTs open up a world of creativity, building on our design ethos. Maakola’s collections have long explored the meaning of fabrics and the messages they carry, and how they shape societies and cultures. It’s something you can see in the Wax Prints and Kente cloth that we use in our designs, where each pattern is rich in symbolism and tells its own story.
For NYFW Spring/Summer 2023, we’ve worked with our partners Genuine Way and Futureclo to use Web3 to connect past, present and future on an even deeper level. We’ll be presenting the opportunity to own a digital asset that takes consumers behind the scenes of the fashion industry, bringing together worlds that don’t usually meet but that are woven into every thread of a Maakola piece.
“I want to push it into the future and create a prosperous and inclusive world that people haven’t experienced before and that can come together with a phygital garment. Web3 allows me to stretch my creativity in creating a multi-dimensional fashion through which to reconnect and change the industry for good. Clothing can become an entirely new and poetic way of having a collective impact and consciousness.” – Aurora Chiste, founder and creative director
Technology with a purpose
Behind the crypto buzz lies a serious purpose. This New York Fashion Week, we want to use NFTs to show that phygital fashion – and the future of the metaverse – has the potential to improve the real world. Phygital fashion can enhance the relationships that guarantee authenticity and help us understand the sustainability of our choices. To bring this about, we worked with Futureclo to create releases of 3D objects, avatars and 3D augmented reality – democratizing the runway with digital craftsmanship that can finally be held up to a couture standard.
It’s something that we have been working on for some time now. Two years ago we partnered with Genuine Way to use blockchain to bring transparency to the supply chain, help reduce the use of natural resources and waste, and guarantee people’s wellbeing. And there’s much, much more to come. Web3 allows us to push and experiment even further, removing the distance between the designer, manufacturer and consumer to bring alive the power and the messages that each creation carries.
Stay tuned
Something groundbreaking is coming to NYFW on September 12th. We’ll be democratizing the runway by dropping our first NFTs – and you can experience it from anywhere in the world. Keep an eye on our social channels for all the details!