Gucci Collaborates With Yugo Labs, Bored Ape Yacht Club Company – Robb Report
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Gucci has just announced its latest collaboration – and it’s one that might make anyone look even more overwhelmed than a certain NFT monkey.
Gucci has entered into a multi-year partnership with blockchain technology company Yuga Labs, best known for their NFT collection Bored Ape Yacht Club, a collection of 10,000 profile picture NFTs powered by celebrities including Jimmy Fallon, Justin Bieber and Mark Cuban, and for the time. subject of a class action.
Business of Fashion reported that the partnership will include Gucci designing metaverse clothing for Yuga Labs’s Otherside and designing for the NFT collection 10KTF, created by Beeple and purchased by Yuga Labs. Gucci previously collaborated with 10KTF on a line of custom NFTs for a project called “Gucci Grail” last year, a design project from former creative director Alessandro Michele.
The partnership was also announced on Twitter by the fashion house itself, writing simply: “Continuing to explore the Metaverse, the house comes together with @yugalabs. Follow along as a new narrative takes shape, blurring the boundaries between the physical and the digital.”
Gucci also shared an image of a Gucci and Yuga Labs-branded bottle held in a digital hand, perhaps a first look at one of their digital designs.
The news comes on the same day that another major company – Disney – is moving in a completely different direction on its metaverse work. The The Wall Street Journal reported today that the entertainment giant is shutting down its metaverse division and laying off all 50 employees associated with it. These are part of broader layoffs — roughly 7,000 employees are expected to be affected — but still signify a lack of confidence in the metaverse market.
On the flip side, Robert Triefus, Gucci’s senior executive vice president, corporate and brand strategy, shared a statement indicating excitement for new developments in the web3 world.
“We are excited to unveil this multi-faceted partnership with Yuga Labs, a leader and creative pioneer in web3,” he said, per Business of Fashion. “This will give us an active role in the Otherside and 10KTF’s continuing narrative, which unfolds in multiple forms.”
In 2022, Gucci first cemented itself as an early adopter of the metaverse with spaces on several digital platforms: “Gucci Vault Land” on The Sandbox, a world populated with NFTs about the brand’s history, and “Gucci Town” on Roblox, a virtual community where you can dress in Gucci clothes, shop in Gucci stores and gather in a Gucci logo piazza.
Now, Gucci is doubling down on its commitment to digital real estate with its new Yuga Labs partnership, signaling its belief in its power not just now, but years into the future. Gucci is reportedly set to appear on Otherside as soon as next week.
