Luxury fashion magazine Vogue Singapore’s September issue features a special print cover — a QR code that acts as a gateway to an interactive fashion metaverse that showcases two digital covers, both available as non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
In one of the animated digital covers — titled “Triumphant Awakening” — a gold statuette stands in front of a blue planet encircled by a rising and setting sun — inspired by Vogue’s global theme of “New Beginnings” that links all 27 global editions in September, according to a company statement.
The second cover, titled “The RenaiXance Rising”, features an avatar “adorned in a majestic and billowing gown inspired by Singaporean and Malay culture.” A programmable NFT, “The RenaiXance Rising” changes depending on when it is viewed. “Sun flares splice and rotate around the dress, symbolizing that a new beginning for fashion lies in the metaverse,” according to Vogue Singapore.
The metaverse and NFTs mark Vogue Singapore’s entry into the metaverse as NFTs — still in their early days — continue to explode in popularity with creators, celebrities, brands and collectors jumping onto the bandwagon.
“The marquee issue for any fashion magazine is always the September issue,” Norman Tan, editor-in-chief of Vogue Singapore, told Forkast.News in an interview. “It marks the start of the autumn/winter season and the pages of the book are filled with fantastical stories that encourage readers to get dressed up again, to have fun with fashion and, ultimately, be inspired to dream.”
“With the global September issue theme of ‘New Beginnings,’ we took the bold step to venture into the metaverse — the destination for a new class of digital artists and designers,” Tan added. “With this issue, we aim to elevate storytelling and continue that dialogue between print and digital that we have championed since launch.”
The “Triumphant Awakening” cover was created by Chad Knight, a virtual world artist and 3D designer for Nike, in collaboration with Jamela Law and Lionel Wong of Singapore-based design firm, Baëlf Design. “The RenaiXance Rising” cover was created by The Fabricant, a digital fashion house, together with Singaporean fashion photographer turned 3D virtual model creator Shavonne Wong, with fashion direction by Vogue Singapore’s fashion director Desmond Lim.
Aside from the two digital covers, Vogue Singapore today is launching for sale 15 NFTs, including an exclusive digital-only dress by French luxury fashion house Balmain to celebrate Olivier Rousteing’s 10-year anniversary as creative director, six beauty NFTs from make-up artist Dain Yoon, and design NFTs by Singapore-Italian studio Lanzavecchia + Wai.
The winning bidder of Rousteing’s “Flame Dress,” “an off-shoulder emerald green gown propped against an apocalyptic backdrop and set aflame” will receive a digital certificate of authenticity, Rousteing’s sketches of the NFT dress and be able to port the NFT dress into the fashion gaming app Altava, according to Vogue Singapore.
Vogue Singapore’s metaverse will allow readers to read more about the artists that created the artworks, purchase the print issue of Vogue Singapore or purchase the NFT covers when they click on the digital covers.
Clicking on six 3D objects in the metaverse will also launch additional experiences including a panel discussion on the value of fashion NFTs moderated by Maghan McDowell, senior innovation editor at Vogue Business, with Amber Slooten, creative director and co-founder of The Fabricant; Andy Ku, chief executive officer of gaming company Altava; Norman Tan, editor-in-chief of Vogue Singapore; and Ben Tsai, president of Wave Financial that is launching an NFT fund. Users will also be able to read an interview with Balmain’s creative director Rousteing about the creation of the “Flame Dress” and use an Instagram face filter featuring the headdress in “The RenaiXance Rising.”
The NFTs featured in Vogue Singapore’s September issue will be available for purchase on Brytehall, a newly launched premium NFT platform on the Binance Smart Chain developed by Media Publishares in collaboration with VIDY and cryptocurrency exchange Binance from September.
Vogue Singapore joins a growing list of publishers that are tapping their toes into NFTs. Hong Kong newspaper the South China Morning Post in July said it planned to mint a collection of NFTs from its 118-year-old archives of historical moments.