The luxury fashion brand Lacoste is opening a store in the metaverse just in time for the holiday season.
The immersive experience was designed by Emperia, a platform focused on creating virtual reality (VR) experiences for retail and fashion brands. It will be accessible to users via desktop and mobile.
According to the report, visitors to the store will enter through a crocodile’s mouth and arrive in a showroom featuring five new seasonal products viewable in 360 degrees. Another room will feature Christmas products.
The new metaverse experience also has a VIP showroom that can only be assessed by Lacoste NFT owners — a Web3 community called UNDW3. Throughout the month of December, Lacoste will drop “loot” boxes in the VIP room. And every day, five users will be chosen to win an exclusive prize.
The cofounder and CEO of Emperia, Olga Dogadkina, said that NFTs and the metaverse experience will create “a sense of community” and allow the brand to leverage Web3 innovation. She added that using NFTs as a utility, not just a collectible, will help Lacoste create a more intimate and rewarding experience for customers.
The isn’t the brand’s first foray into Web3. In June 2022, Lacoste dropped its first NFT collection called UNDW3, which it’s now building on with its metaverse experience. The brand hopes to build loyalty with customers and inspire return visits to the virtual store throughout the holiday season.
Fashion Brands Dive into Web3
Lacoste is far from the only luxury fashion brand to invest in Web3. At Rarity Sniper, we’ve covered dozens of stories about fashion brands entering the metaverse, dropping NFT projects, and investing in Web3 technologies.
First, from October 27th to November 9th, Gucci debuted its Gucci Vault Land in The Sandbox. The two-week pop-up consisted of games, contests, NFTs and more. Some of the prizes included rewards in $SAND, the native token of The Sandbox metaverse.
Next, the global fashion brand HUGO BOSS partnered with Web3 platform Imaginary Ones for an NFT collection and future metaverse experience. The HUGO x Imaginary Ones NFT collection features 1,001 3D animations that encourage people to improve their overall health and well-being.
Lastly, Adidas recently announced its first NFT collection of digital wearables. The collection is called “Virtual Gear” and is the first interoperable product from the brand — meaning the NFTs can be used with different metaverses and PFP avatars.
NFTs and the metaverse offer new ways for brands to connect with customers, and fashion brands appear to be taking full advantage of the perks. We’ll have to wait to see if Lacoste’s holiday metaverse experience is a hit with fans. But if it is, we expect the brand will continue to drop Web3 projects in the future.