We’ve talked about NFTs in previous episodes, including in episode 6 on NFTs and art and episode 7 on investing in NFTs from an Asia perspective. This episode of the Withers talks: cryptocurrency podcast, ‘NFTs and digital-only fashion,’ focuses on the exciting area of NFTs and blockchain in the world of fashion. In this episode, podcast host Charles Kolstad is joined by Gina Bibby, partner on Withers’ corporate team in Los Angeles and head of the law firm’s global fashion tech practice, to discuss how fashion-related NFTs started, continue to grow and shape the fashion industry and beyond, and what lies in the future for NFTs and digital-only fashion.

Instagram celebrities and the gaming industry inspired the birth of digital-only fashion houses that design specifically for people and characters in the digital world, or metaverse, explains Gina. These trailblazing fashion brands saw opportunity for customers to purchase digital-only garments for personal use in cyberspace, including for themselves and characters in gaming, and now it is a growing movement in the fashion space. In 2019, the monetization of digital-only fashion went next level when a fashion house put a digital dress on the blockchain as an NFT instead of selling it direct to consumers.

Listen as Gina and Charles discuss how NFTs and blockchain in fashion offer appealing characteristics amid the priorities of sustainability and transparency in fashion and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on fashion. Gina explains the opportunities, as well as the issues and challenges, that digital-only fashion can create, and shares her view of the future of this space. We hope you enjoy the episode.

You can read more on NFTs and digital-only fashion in Gina's recent article, 'NFTs: is art mimicking fashion?'