By Christos Makridis
Award-winning Web3 experiential event creator Nolcha Shows is hosting an in-person and virtual reality fashion event at the Word Trade Center for New York Fashion Week, opening up the exclusive world of design to newcomers.
Participants will have the opportunity to experience innovative technology that incorporates metaverse fashion, virtual avatars, augmented reality, and digital wearables.
The two-day Web3 event will take place on the 69th floor of the iconic 3 World Trade Center. Unlike traditional NFT events, the goal “is to create a new destination, or highway, that connects the Web2 and Web3 communities where they can work together,” said Arthur Mandel, co-founder of The Nolcha Shows at New York Fashion Week. York.
Although the fashion show is an invitation-only event and there is a limit to the number of people who can reside at the venue, the use of Web3 technologies will allow “everyone to experience fashion week, not just a few,” Mandel said. Participants will be able to see what different clothes look like on the runway using augmented reality without having to physically change clothes, allowing for more creativity with fashion styles than is traditionally possible.
Spring Summer 2023 Collection by Kaiane Designs and jewelry by Anna Zuckerman.
Photo by Paolo Lanzi / GORUNWAY.COM
These parades will kick off at 2pm on September 13, introducing native Web3 branding out of the box, and panel discussions will kick off at 12pm on September 14, providing opportunities to share and exchange ideas on the impact of Web3 in the fashion industry.
“This is about educating brands about the difference between NFTs for speculation, collectibles and virtual spaces where people walk, and all the real potential of Web3,” said Brian Wallace, director of marketing at Vatom. “It’s about creating a brand new direct engagement channel with their customers where they can reward and incentivize behavior on an ongoing basis.”
Many brands have traditionally viewed NFTs as an interesting show-and-tell technology, but we are now in a “now what” stage. “You’ve got people’s attention, now how are you going to increase brand and customer engagement?” Wallace said. The difference between the most successful and the least successful web3 projects are those that respond and engage with their customers.
“We need to align the technology that we’re seeing with what people want and give them a point of entry and access. We just need to get to a point where there’s a really easy entry point for people to get involved,” said Jacqueline. Blackburn at Scout Ventures.
NFTs provide a new direct engagement channel to reward and incentivize consumers for specific behaviors on an ongoing basis. Marketers no longer require millions in ad spend to create content consumers don’t want to see. Instead, Web3 allows consumers to own their own data, which means brands will need to win over their customers by providing value.
“NFTs are not just about intellectual property and monetization or new ways of engaging with customers, everything in your wallet, from loyalty points to information from your bra size to AI-recommended wearables, provides opportunities to co- create, support local creators, vote on collaborations and monitor supply chains in real time,” said Paula Kilgarriff, Web3 Fashion Retail Activation Consultant and Speaker.
Some of the innovation is also taking place on virtual earth. For example, LandVault has built some 100 million square feet of land in the metaverse for brands. “The Metaverse is the 3D version of the Internet, so as it grows into a new era for the Internet, every brand and business will need to figure out how the new platform works. We see ourselves in the business of creating experiences.” said Sam Huber, CEO and founder of LandVault.
Spring Summer 2023 Collection by Host and Var Bag by Zashadu and Accessories by Aumaro Gems.
Photo by Paolo Lanzi / GORUNWAY.COM
Since the spaces of the metaverse are not restricted by the same degree of physical or geographic boundaries, it provides an opportunity to gamify brands and create virtual experiences. “Each campaign has different goals, which is different than Web2, it’s about recreation and entertainment, not specific numbers or a single campaign,” said Huber. Because these web3 experiences tend to attract consumers who are naturally more interested in the product or service, brands have also seen much higher sales conversion and engagement rates, even as high as 70%.
“The store of the future is dynamic and is an immersive downloadable interactive experience for customers/community to engage with the brand and have a voice or interest in its products and services,” said Kilgarriff.
The Nolcha Shows promises to not only create an exciting and engaging experience for attendees, both in person and virtually, but also to test an innovative set of Web3 use cases that will transform the fashion industry forever.
Source: www.forbes.com