NFT’s To Go Buy now, pay later at New York Fashion Week in September

Buy now, pay later service provider Afterpay enters the NFT market.

The fintech company that is also the official presenting partner of New York Fashion Week: The Shows has teamed up with five NYFW designers – Altu by Joseph Altuzarra, AnOnlyChild, Jonathan Simkhai, Kim Shui and The Blonds – to offer NFTs in limited edition. .

The project is titled The Keys to New York Fashion Week, and each designer NFT is a one-of-a-kind phygital collectible – with both digital artwork and physical pieces or experiential elements centered around access.

Each NFT will sell for $100 and Afterpay will allow consumers to purchase the NFTs by splitting the payment into four interest-free installments at Keys.NYFW.com.

For the NFT digital artworks, each designer drew inspiration from their Spring/Summer ’23 collections, while additional tools include a choice of experiences and limited edition items.

Altu by Joseph Altuzarra NFT comes with a leather bag and oversized t-shirt or annual membership to a TBD New York art museum, while the Jonathan Simkhai edition involves a private meet-and-greet shopping experience with the designer or original, signed runway sketches from his Spring 23 collection debut September 13.

The AnOnlyChild, The Blonds and Kim Shui offers respectively include a limited edition belt bag, signed copy of the brand’s upcoming book, ‘The Blonds: Glamour, Fashion, Fantasy’ and a specially designed hoodie or tickets to the after party and fashion show.

Many designers have previously engaged in Web 3.0 and the metaverse. Last season, for example, Simkhai showed digital versions of its IRL collection via Second Life that were sold as NFT wearables.

For Kim Shui, whose fans include Cardi B and Kylie Jenner, the evolving Web 3.0 universe is a perfect fit. Since launching in 2017, the designer has developed her brand alongside her online community, and for her upcoming Spring ’23 collection, crowdsourced one of her prints.

“My brand was co-created on the internet, our community constantly inspires us,” she told me via email. “NFTs can foster this and strengthen a sense of community with whole new levels of customer engagement. It can change the relationship between consumer and brand. The possibilities are endless.”

Of the fact that buyers are given the choice between owning something physically and taking part in an experience, she adds that “it’s about focusing on the benefit for the customer first and what they prefer – I wanted it to be personal. Some people prefer experiences, others prefer physical things – so it was about giving them that option.”

All proceeds from the sale of designer NFT Keys will be donated to Free Arts NYC which brings art and mentoring programs to children in underserved communities in New York City.

In addition, Afterpay will issue free, limited NFTs with tools, including a TIDAL HiFi Plus 6-month free trial, access to an Instagram group of close NYFW friends, and an invitation to RSVP to the NYFW: The Talks sessions.

Last season, Clearpay, the name of Afterpay’s European division, collaborated with British designer Roksanda Ilincic on NFT and AR digital wearable versions of a hero look from the British designer’s Fall 22 collection.

Both designer NFT Keys and free Afterpay NFT will be hosted on the Polygon network, considered one of the greenest blockchains since it is one of the most energy efficient.

Although still quite niche in terms of numbers, the project marks an important step in integrating the newly emerging Web 3.0 world with more traditional consumption of fashion.

As of 31 March 2022, Afterpay is offered by over 144,000 merchants worldwide with more than 20 million active customers. Postpaid is currently available in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the US and the UK, France, Italy and Spain, where it is known as Clearpay. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Block Inc.