First the partnership with Kanye West, then the luxury brand Balenciaga and now The Gap (DIFFERENCE) wades into the world of crypto with NFTs of hoodies.
On Thursday, the San Francisco-based retailer, known for its all-American style of clothing, deposited a collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Tezos blockchain. Priced from $8.30 to $415, NFTs feature different versions of the classic Gap hoodie, and in some cases also come with a physical sweatshirt.
What is an NFT?
Brandon Simes, the artist who created New York’s famous Frank Ape series, is the one who designed the series – specific NFTs will fall into categories like “rare” and “epic” and will be available while supplies last. .
Soaring in popularity among art lovers and investors, NFTs are a way to assert ownership of an item of online content like an image or recording – Nike (NKE) – Get the Class B report from NIKE, Inc., Adidas (ADDDF) and Mattel (CARPET) – Get the report from Mattel, Inc. have all recently started dabbling in this space with both products and advertising.
Last month, Nike bought a design company that designs virtual shoes for the Metaverse – a combination of virtual and augmented reality that is set to take over as the next version of the internet.
“We’re excited for the possibilities that more planet-friendly blockchain technology can open up for us and all the new ways it will allow us to connect with our customers,” said John Strain, chief digital and technology officer. of Gap, in a press release.
Why now?
Last summer, The Gap launched a partnership with YEEZY Apparel, the clothing brand launched by the popular rapper who now goes by the name Ye. This week, Ye and The Gap signed a deal to extend the partnership to French luxury retailer Balenciaga.
But despite the line’s resounding success (Yeezy items sell out within hours and sometimes minutes of launch), Gap has had a tough few years — in the quarter ending Oct. 30, the company suffered a loss of $152. million from a $95 million gain a year earlier, due to what Gap said were pandemic-related inventory delays and supply chain disruptions.
After closing 217 stores in October last year, the company also announced plans to reduce the number of Gap and Banana Republic stores by an additional 350 units through 2023. Results this quarter also included 4.16 billion of lease obligations and $1.5 billion of long-term obligations. debt – some analysts have gone so far as to suggest that it could eventually file for bankruptcy.
Efforts to jump into the digital space are, likely, an attempt to keep up with current trends and stay relevant in an evolving landscape — Gap (DIFFERENCE) the stock is down nearly 17% year-over-year but, with new partnerships and announcements, it has risen steadily over the past month.
“While we entered the third quarter with increasing momentum, acute supply chain headwinds affected our ability to fully meet strong customer demand,” CEO Sonia Synga said on the call. to the results. “Yet we have made an intentional investment in lasting customer loyalty with an accelerated use of air freight to serve them during this holiday, choosing a long-term growth opportunity over a short-term impact on profitability. .”
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