UNSOLICITED: The North Face & NFT Fashion
Updated: Apr 1, 2021
Original photograph by Thomas Lipke
Glossary
The North Face - an environmentally conscious outdoor fashion company that makes beautiful, lasting products and attracts a vastly diverse following.
A Non-Fungible Token (NFT) - simply put, a line in a digital ledger that forever, and incorruptibly, identifies a specific item - digital or physical.
Goals
To nudge consumers towards ecologically conscious consumption
To reward adventurous fans and inspire more people to go on adventures
To demonstrate the lasting value of well made products
To extend the definition of art, inviting people, who’d traditionally be excluded from artistic endeavours, to participate
As a byproduct, NFTs would allow a new form of art, where canvases are products and colours are added through stains, stitches and stories of authentic adventures. It could be the next level of product personalisation ⏤ to buy not just a parka, but a parka that’s seen the summit of Everest.
How it could work
Original photograph by Ben Den Engelsen
The North Face jackets could come with (98% more efficient, Eth 2.0) NFTs.
Each NFT owner would be invited to activate a digital log, where she could add notes, pictures and videos of the adventures the jacket was a part of.
The log would be publicly available - anyone would be able to follow logs and make offers on items featured (or easily find relevant new products).
Should a log owner accept an offer, and sell the garment and its blockchain-verified history, the buyer would be added to product NFT, becoming part of the narrative.
Product handover could take place remotely or be organised in a North Face store for additional benefits (e.g. garment mending).
NFT would also allow creation of a uniquely identifiable digital version of the item, which owners could use in a myriad ways in the digital realm.
Benefits
Original photograph by Taylor Leopold
To all consumers
Access to authentic North Face products with rich history.
An easy and exciting path to ecologically conscious consumption.
A way to become part of a unique narrative (by owning a jacket that climbed Kilimanjaro) and expand the narrative by adding own experiences.
To adventurers
A way to monetise adventures, get rid of superfluous gear and make space for new one. The premise is that a jacket that participated in a sled dog race across Alaska would cost more to the race fans than a new one.
An opportunity to develop personal brands and following, in a focused environment, not competing for likes with general interest social media content.
An opportunity to create a new form of art, combining physical objects (a jacket), with unique multimedia narrative.
To The North Face
A way to promote products through authentic stories and diverse field testing.
Elevation of garments from functional items to original storytelling devices.
Opportunity to expand the modern definitions of art and artists.
Support of conscious consumption by offering new motivation for purchasing second hand products.
Coda - Adventure Art
The North Face produces beautiful, lasting products. NFTs would distinguish individual pieces and allow brand fans to take the public on adventures — wild and urban, highlighting the lasting quality of the gear and inspiring future explorers.
As a byproduct, NFTs would allow a new form of art, where canvases are products and colours are added through stains, stitches and stories of authentic adventures. It could be the next level of product personalisation ⏤ to buy not just a parka, but a parka that’s seen the summit of Everest.
Can life get any better?