Earlier this year, Louis Vuitton took a bold step into the world of NFTs by introducing its inaugural mystery box grounded in blockchain technology. This move aimed to infuse an air of intrigue into its endeavors to foster a vibrant community.
The exclusive VIA collection by LV, featuring an innovative blend of physical and digital elements, bears a price tag of approximately $41,600 per piece. Within this collection, enigmatic boxes are presented, housing a combination of unique tangible and virtual creations that cater to specific buyers. The unveiling of these mysterious contents is orchestrated through the release of digital keys at intervals designed to sustain the element of surprise.
Among the standout offerings of the Via collection is the collaborative creation with Pharrell Williams, the Speedy bag 40 VIA. This iconic piece, initially available digitally to Via trunk proprietors, is set to materialize in physical form in the year 2024.
Preceding Louis Vuitton's foray, Dolce and Gabbana emerged as one of the trailblazing luxury fashion brands to experiment with NFT-driven enigma, presenting the DGFamily Glass Box in a blind sale during the prior year. These boxes were categorized into tiers of black, gold, and platinum, each tier entailing a distinct fusion of physical and digital rewards, progressively revealed over time.
While the concept of mystery boxes is not novel, having a prominent presence in the realm of collectibles, their integration with NFTs follows a logical trajectory, given the collectible nature of NFTs themselves. This sentiment is shared by Benoit Pagotto, co-founder of RTFKT, a digital fashion brand renowned for its NFT mystery box "MNLTH" in partnership with Nike.
RTFKT adopts an immersive approach to engage its audience through puzzles and quests that culminate in the unboxing experience, unveiling a spectrum of phygital treasures including sneakers and assorted collectibles.
The practice of mystery boxes has long been established within the gaming sphere, serving as a robust revenue stream. Robert Hoogendoorn, Head of Content at Dappradar, a decentralized application-tracking website, underscores their significance in generating revenue, citing the gaming industry's impressive $15 billion yield from mystery boxes in 2020, poised to escalate to $25 billion by 2025. The pertinent question arises: Can the element of surprise inherent in mystery boxes yield substantial returns within the domains of luxury and fashion?
Intriguingly, mystery boxes not only hold sway within the confines of the gaming industry but are also being harnessed by luxury brands as a potent tool to captivate fresh audiences and liquidate surplus stock. Luxury brands are ingeniously leveraging mystery boxes as a conduit to both offload unsought items and entice aspirational customers.