“Stay cool through being niche and scale through digital extension,” Nick Adler, co-founder MNTGE.
Europe’s largest Web3 event NFT Paris has proved itself a fertile forum for the exchange of ideas and a launch pad for innovative projects—both via its Grand Palais Éphémère hub and wider schedule of side events taking place across the city.
During the Holly Wood Labs Future Fashion Summit on Wednesday, American heritage denim label Wrangler unveiled an experimental collaboration with MNTGE, the digital wearables brand built around vintage clothing.
Specially developed for the Summit, the limited-edition Wrangler denim X MNTGE Archive Capsule gifted to attendees featured premium Wrangler vintage western shirts and denim jackets embedded with co-branded near field communication (NFC) chipped patches allowing them to be digitally signed, with the story of the garment recorded on-chain.
Items were sourced from the archives of MNTGE co-founder Sean Weatherspoon and the Wrangler vault. Pieces spanned the ‘70s through the ‘90s with the patches featuring artwork inspired by archival design elements from vintage Wrangler logos and past collections like “Mr. Wrangler” and the Peter Max collaboration from the 1960s.
As part of an immersive installation, there was also a tailor in residence allowing guests to customize their own Wrangler product with the collaborative NFC-chipped patches.
“Wrangler is such a classic brand that we all grew up wearing and collecting, so we immediately clicked on a concept inspired by some of Wrangler’s iconic artwork from their vault,” said MNTGE co-founder Nick Adler, adding that he hopes the relationship can “grow into something bigger.”
Alongside the promotion of dialogue, forging future partnerships is a key objective for the Future Fashion Summit which connects leaders from international luxury fashion houses with digital brands. This, its third edition, was attended by representatives from LVMH, Richemont, Puig and Kering Group brands; Burberry, Hermes and McLaren; and DressX and Tik Tok.
Two panel discussions were centered around issues of circularity and the value of the gaming industry for brands and retailers.
Whether on-chain or off, the consensus was that Digital Product Passports recording proof of ownership and authenticity represent an important driver for the resale economy.
Panelists agreed with Arianee CEO Pierre-Nicolas Hurstel that consumers needed a reason to adopt the technology in order for it to scale. While Wrangler’s Gormley endorsed a rewards system, EON CEO Natasha Franck was in favor of a multi factor approach—generating “value through ubiquity.” Ledger head of brand marketing Steven Dolcemaschio looked forward to a “killer app” to reduce associated frictions.
Tommy Hilfiger gaming and Web3 manager Morgan Evans spoke convincingly of gaming as “a customer acquisition channel” citing Roblox’s introduction of in-game e-commerce for brands. He was backed by Future Studios’ Kai Henry who noted that 80 percent of Gen-Z are influenced by their avatar when it comes to how they present in real life.
While Adler underlined the influence of the Gen-Z demographic from street to social media influencers on TikTok and Instagram, Evans also spoke candidly to Hilfiger’s use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the creation of user generated content (UGC) for gaming and the challenges of preserving brand fidelity while simultaneously pushing the envelope.
The Summit was sponsored by BNB Chain, EON, Fewture Studios, Ledger, Wrangler, MNTGE, PURPLE, Arianee and Evian and hosted in partnership with 10 Magazine.
