Prada’s NFTs: here’s what they are and why they’re making them

NFTs but make it high fashion. 

We’ve seen Bitcoin, and we’ve seen Dogecoin. Cryptocurrency has taken the world by storm in recent years, creating endless confusion about how you can be wealthy in something that doesn’t even physically exist. To further add to the bewilderment of digital currency, along came NFT’s. Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs for short, are a type of cryptocurrency that you can own, trade, or sell; each unique in its own way, and usually come in the form of digital art. However, unlike Bitcoin and other forms of cryptocurrency that just have economic value, NFTs have both economic and non-economic value. Most people think of them as digital collectible objects, like trading cards, instead of something to profit from. And after their mainstream boom in 2021, capitalizing on creating these collectibles has reached every corner of the creative world, including the fashion world. 

This past May, Prada announced its release of the Prada Time Capsules, an NFT collection that comes from purchasing a physical item from Prada. By June 2nd, Prada had released its first Time Prada Capsule product, a t-shirt designed in collaboration with artist Cassius Hirst. All customers have to do is buy the capsule where a corresponding NFT will be gifted to them via the corresponding serial number found on the physical item. The catch? You only have 24 hours to buy the capsule item. 

So what’s so special about Prada’s NFTs? Prada is one of the first luxury brands to take on the creation and desire for NFTs in the realm of high fashion. But the recognition of Prada’s collections comes down to gifting an NFT while also receiving a physical item. While most NFTs are floating around in a sea of ones and zeros, Prada changed the game by making it feel physical with the sale of an actual item of clothing and the gifting of an NFT along with it. 

Prada’s latest drop took place on July 7th and included a button-down black and patterned upcycled shirt from the Prada archives. After their capsule’s initial release, Prada also announced the beginning of Prada Crypted, a community server on the social app Discord, which anyone can join.