Louis Vuitton Enters NFT Market With $42K Phygital Trunk
What happened: Louis Vuitton has revealed its first-ever in-house NFT project, which will digitally transform the luxury brand’s iconic hero product, the LV treasure chest.
Arriving in the form of a phygital activation, the virtual assets will give owners access to future products, gamified events and experiences, as well as confirm their status as a member of one of luxury’s most elite virtual cohorts. Only several hundred tokens will be produced.
Joining the likes of Fendi, Hublot, Rimowa and Givenchy, Louis Vuitton is the latest house under the LVMH umbrella to join the metaverse. Those interested can register from tomorrow via the waiting list. On June 14, Louis Vuitton will allow select participants access a private website, before inviting them to buy one of the NFTs on June 16.
Louis Vuitton’s iconic trunk has transcended time and is often at the heart of the brand’s creative collaborations. Photo: Christie’s
The Jing Take: It may have taken its time with its Web3 debut, but Louis Vuitton’s first foray into the new Internet terrain was worth the wait.
Transcending the house’s long-standing creative roadmap, the LV trunk has withstood the test of time, having been transformed from a practical product to an object of art.
Since its conception in 1858, the brand has continually reimagined the trunk’s trademark heritage designs, from the Ernest Hemingway Library Trunk to Supreme’s streetwear-inspired lens.
Now it has a digital upgrade.
But there is a catch. While the drop initially seems like an accessible option for consumers to own a piece of the legendary brand’s legacy, the token comes with a hefty €39,000 (almost $42,000) price tag, limits the privilege to high-end consumers.
This isn’t the first time a high-end luxury brand has entered the metaverse with a top-drawer price point. Tiffany’s $50,000 CryptoPunk pendant, which dropped last August, sparked controversy, with many commentators saying the project ran counter to Web3’s ethos and its democratization of art.
Despite this setback, the collection sold out in hours, demonstrating the colossal appetite for drops of this type.
LV’s token price point is arguably realistic, considering the price of a standalone, physical trunk is over $49,000 on resale sites like Vestiaire Collective. NFT will also unlock benefits such as custom collections, increasing value.
As iconic luxury houses explore new ways to take their rich and long-standing legacies to Web3, Vuitton’s entry into the space could revive waning global interest in NFTs.
The Jing Take reports on some of the leading news and presents our editorial team’s analysis of the key implications for the luxury industry. In the recurring column, we analyze everything from product drops and mergers to the heated debate that is sprouting on Chinese social media.
