Louis Vuitton sells $39,000 NFTs

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In the midst of a quiet year on the Web3 front, Louis Vuitton is getting further into the NFT game. Today, the brand is announcing a new collection of phygital “Treasure Trunks,” which will give owners access to future products and experiences, as well as a community of other owners. Each piece costs €39,000 and only several hundred cases will be made available.

The NFT launch is part of a new project called “Via,” the Latin word for way, which nods to the goal of acting as an elite pathway to products and experiences unavailable to others. This has become a central trend in branded NFT projects, with hard-to-acquire and expensive NFTs often positioned as the keys to other products and experiences, both physical and digital. The brand sees Via as a new chapter, extending to traceability (as seen in the LV Diamonds collection, which uses the Aura blockchain), and event-focused NFTs that cultivate and reward communities of NFT holders.

It’s a difficult pivot from Louis Vuitton’s previous NFT offering, Louis the Game, which was a free-to-play experience introduced in August 2021 to educate players about Louis Vuitton’s history and reward successful players with the opportunity to win one of 30 free digital postcards. The timing is also notable, as branded NFT projects have both slowed in pace and quieted in terms of marketing, and the tech hype cycle has shifted to other categories such as generative artificial intelligence. Many in the space are reframing this period as a reset, where the emphasis is on long-term community value through new ways of accessing products and experiences, as opposed to “tech-for-tech’s-sake” experiments or rapidly changing peaks and valleys in the form of market value.

The new launch is in line with Louis Vuitton’s stated views on NFTs. Last January – amid peak metaverse and NFT hype – LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault suggested that high-value goods might be the best approach to applying these technologies to the company’s brands. “We have to see what will be the applications of metaverse and NFTs,” Arnault said on an earnings call at the time. “It can undoubtedly have a positive impact – if it’s done well – on the activity of the brands, but it’s not our goal to sell virtual sneakers at €10. We’re not interested in that.”

To obtain one of the trunks, customers (based in the US, Canada, France, UK, Germany, Japan and Australia) can register via a waiting list on a dedicated website on June 8, where they will be invited to connect their crypto wallets (allowing LV to see its holders) and fill in personal details (such as wallet ID, name and country). On June 14, Louis Vuitton will invite selected registrants to learn more about the world of Via through a private website, followed by an invitation on June 16 to purchase their Via Treasure Trunk, using cryptocurrency or fiat currency, on a dedicated website. Later, holders will receive a custom-made physical twin of the trunk. Louis Vuitton pants were first offered more than 160 years ago and can cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Louis Vuitton guards access to Via in other ways, as holders cannot sell or give it to another person, a contrast to many of the original high-value communities. (The brand refers to it as a “soul-bound collectible,” a new concept in the past year to facilitate loyalty and discourage flipping.) People also can’t return their treasure chests (although people in EU countries can change their minds within 14 days after ordering). Owners will also periodically be able to purchase customized “keys” that unlock access to additional products, the first of which will be available in mid-June and revealed only to those trunk owners who have purchased the corresponding key. Some of the new products will be customized for each trunk owner, and new products will include a record of ownership and proof of authenticity. While holders cannot sell their original suitcases, they can sell future items that they acquire in the ecosystem via the keys.

These structures – post-mint disclosures, access to buy (and sell) future exclusives – are in line with many previously successful NFT projects, such as Bored Ape Yacht Club and Rtfkt, now owned by Nike. Generally, community members are the only ones able to purchase future products, and they often only see the design and specifications of acquisitions after they have been purchased.

Louis Vuitton has maintained a few more traditional “Web1” approaches, including correspondence through waiting list email addresses (which can avoid the anonymity characteristic of Web3) and limiting the ability of holders to turn over their original NFTs (often for a large profit ). LVMH’s Nelly Mensah, who as VP of digital innovation and new solutions leads its Web3 effort, refers to this strategy as “Web2.5”. This is more attractive to traditional luxury clients as, for example, there is no customer service in a true Web3 world. The promise of an ongoing roadmap, the high price of entry and the limited number available also point to a mindset that has more in common with established luxury than a speculative, trendy approach.

This more restrained strategy – three NFT launches in as many years – contrasts with competitor Gucci’s more prolific and varied Web3 approach, which has seen partnerships with the likes of Superplastic, 10KTF and The Sandbox, spanning virtual worlds, phygital figures , digitally clad PFPs and token-gated parties. Louis Vuitton’s strategy is perhaps more akin to Tiffany’s (also now under the LVMH umbrella), which offered 250 owners of Cryptopunk’s PFPs the opportunity to purchase custom, Cryptopunk-inspired pendants for the equivalent of $52,000 at the time. Prada has also established an ongoing cadence of NFT launches via its monthly phygital Timecapsule drops. Treasure Trunks is reminiscent of Hermès’ (analogous) strategy for the distribution of high-value, high-demand items such as Birkin bags, which are only considered accessible to customers who reach certain spending thresholds and other barriers.

It’s worth noting that also in the past year, Louis Vuitton has tapped NFT early adopter Pharrell Williams as its new men’s creative director, hinting to some that he might bring an enthusiastic feel to the brand.

This latest launch can therefore be seen as the start of a long-term journey in the year.

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