Streetwear x web3: 5 real-life use cases for web3 in streetwear
Right now there is a lot of talk about web3, but how could it actually help make streetwear better, or at least more interesting?
Welcome to the second SW3 newsletter! We had 19 new subscribers this week, yay! Thanks for sharing and sending onto friends. Last week we looked at how Pacemaker are starting the world’s first web3 streetwear accelerator.
This week, I’m looking why web3 is actually so exciting for streetwear. Because yeah, there’s all this talk of web3 and you might feel like you need to know what’s going on so you don’t get left behind.
I’m sharing a few ideas on how I think web3 can work with streetwear going forward, so that at least you can make sense of it and at best you can sound like you know what you’re talking about to someone else ;)
Before we jump in, how about you subscribe if you haven’t already? Or if you have, take a second to forward this onto someone else who is into streetwear and sneakers. Cheers :)
Certifying ownership and provenance
The parallels between streetwear and web3 run deep. The drop model is so similar to the drop model in NFT collections - limited numbers sold to a small number of people who have been whitelisted (this is similar to when you enter a raffle for sneakers, for instance).
What is likely to happen in the future is that drops of streetwear will be accompanied by an NFT (non-fungible token) which is essentially a digital token with a unique code tied to that garment, also knowns as a ‘Physical backed token’ or PBT (you may also hear this referenced to as ‘phygital’).
Once you receive the garment, you will be able to scan a QR code or the like which registers or ‘mints’ the NFT onto the blockchain, tied to your crypto wallet. In Layman’s terms, it’s then registered that the item you have bought belongs to you and therefore begins a life cycle of tracking ownership and provenance. So why is this cool? It leads us nicely onto…
Authentication and eliminating fakes
Fraudulent items are rife within luxury fashion and streetwear - we only need to look at the recent claims from Nike that StockX is selling fake sneakers to know that this is a real problem, and it’s why resell platforms like eBay and StockX are non-stop recruiting sneaker authenticators. Sneaker sniffing anyone?
Having items authenticated on the blockchain will make selling fakes very hard. Why? Because each physical item is tied to a one-off unique code via the minting process mentioned. You could fake the pieces, sure, but it wouldn’t match up to the NFT. This will likely be done via NFC (near field communication) which I spoke about in my October 21st newsletter.
NFC is used for apple pay etc, it’s essentially a tiny chip inside your phone, garment or sneakers that when scanned can provide information. Information like the associated NFT. No match, no bueno.
Resale royalties for creators
Ok, so say you own the physical product and you own the NFT. Like in the traditional streetwear / sneaker resale market, you wanna sell your items on, hopefully at a profit. At no point does the original creator of the item make any money on the resale. You might think ‘well, Nike don’t need any more money’ and yeah, that could be argued, but what about smaller niche brands? The indie streetwear brands, or even you yourself as a creator?
Wouldn’t it be cool if the original creator of the product got a royalty fee / cut of the resell value? This is what is possible in web3, because everything is tracked on the blockchain, which is essentially just one big online ledger that is almost impossible to tamper with.
Royalties can be hard coded into resale of the accompanying NFT so that the original designer or creator gets a cut. This is a HUGE win for creators and designers and alone is one of the most exciting parts of how web3 can shape the design world going forward.
Supply chain transparency
Alright, let’s move on to another area that I think is really cool. Tracking supply chain. WAIT, I know that sounds dry AF but stick with me ;)
As we move forward consumers are increasingly growing concerned about not only the sustainable / eco nature of the materials used in items they buy but also how ethical the nature in which factory staff in the supply chain are treated. Imagine if it were possible to be able to pick up a hoodie and be able to digitally view what the materials used are, where they were grown, whether they are organic, who processed them and what kind of wage were they paid? You get the picture.
Web3 will allow us to keep track and document each part of the supply chain. Unsurprisingly, this hasn’t had mass adoption yet as I would guess that most fashion companies don’t want their shady goings on documented. I also think the majority of them probably don’t even have the answers to a lot of these questions, nor are even asking them because they know the answers don’t sound great. Hopefully the ability for this to be done via the blockchain should mean that consumers start putting that pressure on brands to document their entire supply chain. Would be interesting viewing I think!
Investing in brands of the future
Let’s also look at a concept that is quickly being adopted in web3 - being able to invest in your favourite musicians, athletes and brands via NFTs. Imagine it as how you’d buy a share in Tesla for example.
Companies such as Royal allow you to buy shares in your favourite songs and earn royalties for every stream. What if you could own a share of the next Supreme and earn a royalty on future profits? It makes it an easy way for small brands to raise capital quickly without needing to be big enough to IPO or seek private investment. It could mean that the true heads will be able to support and own a slice of the pie from early doors.
VIP access and memberships
On that note and to finalise, I think we need to look at token-gated memberships, as I see this being big in streetwear.
A token-gated membership is something that you join by either purchasing an NFT, or owning and holding a certain amount of the brand’s own token (or crypto as most people would know it by).
In doing this and holding the NFT or token, it again allows brands to raise capital and in turn would allow the investors (customers) to be a part of something extra special - like a VIP membership that could give you early access to upcoming drops, events, member only pieces, meet ups, exclusive designs or more.
Community is a huge part of any brand and in web3 it is how EVERY project builds - community up. Projects such as Poolsuite have recently launched Manor DAO - their project to raise enough capital via membership buy in to buy a manor house (yes you heard that right, a manor house) which will be governed and frequented by members who hold the token or NFT.
What could a version this look like in streetwear?
These are just a few of the use cases I see being easy to mass adopt in the coming months and years, but there are so many more that I’ll go into on this newsletter in time. As always, I’ll keep you up to date with the world of web3 and streetwear and more importantly the REAL LIFE uses.
Also happening this week in SW3…
Ambush has teamed up with AZUKI to release a set of physical backed token goods, two hoodies and two pendants. Given that Azuki’s gold skateboard drop went crazy, I think this will be a big one. No idea on prices yet, but you’ll need a crypto wallet and some ETH loaded ready for the raffle which opens sometime today!
Bobby Hundreds has delayed / cancelled his upcoming release of NFTs with OpenSea after they changed their approach to creator royalties
That’s it for this week, keep your eyes peeled for next week’s newsletter.
Heard of some cool shit happening we should cover? Drop me a line - yo@sarahakwisombe.com