GCDS launches first NFTs with portraits of Wirdo, sales and discounts – WWD

FROM RUNWAY TO NFT: GCDS’s alien mascot Wirdo gets the NFT treatment.

After embodying the invitation – and spirit – of the brand’s Spring 2023 runway show in September, the pink character is set to star in the brand’s first foray into NFTs.

Through the initiative, GCDS will offer 4,888 unique non-fungible tokens on Ethereum. Buyers will receive a unique portrait and gain access to the community as well as a number of future services, including exclusive access to pre-sales of runway pieces and capsule collections, a 30 percent discount on the label’s e-commerce, as well as digital artifacts for use in various meta-worlds. In addition, members will be offered access to exclusive concert ticket sales, online lotteries and the chance to win runway show passes.

Sales of GCDS NFTs will be launched on Friday on the brand’s website. Transactions will be available via both real and cryptocurrency.

“Anyone can invest in NFTs, they are accessible and transferable to anyone in the world,” said GCDS CEO Giordano Calza, who founded the brand with his brother Giuliano in 2015. Calza emphasized that this aspect is in sync with the label’s approach and its mascot, “an alien who [embodies] our willingness to be on everyone’s side as an inclusive brand.”

“This initiative gives our community the opportunity to have safe assets that can appreciate over time and that are protected by the blockchain technology. For GCDS, it also represents the chance to expand the community and a new way to generate value without necessarily having to produce physical goods,” the executive added.

To enable the brand’s aficionados to get to know the project, the company has teased the initiative on Instagram over the past week through a series of different animations, both on its official account and a separate profile dedicated to Wirdo. The content also included simple educational slides explaining what an NFT or blockchain is.

GCDS Creative Director Giuliano Calza explained in an exclusive interview with WWD that Wirdo best embodies this feeling and that of his generation.

“It’s a symbolic character and invites you to celebrate who you are,” the Millennial designer said at the time. “I got into fashion [and was perceived] as an alien. I was the one who made ugly clothes and stuff, but it worked in the end. And I think the same goes for my generation and younger who feel like aliens too. But the point is that we are not here in transit, we have to live in this world.”

Founded by Calzas with an acronym for “God Can’t Destroy Streetwear”, GCDS has also referred to the “Giuliano Calza Design Studio”, which will now be dominant as the brand matures in terms of aesthetics and expands its offering. In late 2020, the company secured an investment from the Italian private equity company Made in Italy Fund, managed by Quadrivio and Pambianco.