There are a handful of brands that could cause a campout before a release: Apple, the Retail industry during Black Friday, Star Wars movies.
AndâŠ
Ironic that I am wearing a pair of Adidas Ultraboosts while writing this đ
Nike is one of the revered brands in retail. Theyâve mastered the art of hype and cool while elevating sport and respecting the culture.
I think weâre at least somewhat familiar with Nike and what they do, so this is a sufficient intro.
SoâŠwhat does Nike have to do with RTFKT (how the hell do you even pronounce that) and what does this weekendâs past events mean for the NFTs and digital fashion?
I wonât be able to go through all the details, but I hope to break this down in a way where we understand what happened, why, and where Nike x RTFKT are headed.
Letâs start with Nikeâs history with NFTs.
Nike NFTs TPan?! Hear me out.
Nike launched the Nike ID product in 1999 where users could choose between 82 different materials and 31 customizable parts for their Nike Air Force One silhouette.
23 years later, Nike ID (now called Nike By You) is still going strong.
This is what I mean by âNikeâs history with NFTsâ. No, they arenât on chain, no they arenât truly unique but they have the spirit of the ânon-fungible' aspect. A sense of âWhat I create is uniquely mine.â
Great, so giving Nike fans a Build-a-Bear factory to create their own sneakers.
Oh you thought this would only be for the physical world? Letâs fast forward to 2018.
Justin Fredericks (JustFred) @justfred_ar
Interested in Nike's Web3 plans? Start w/ the "CryptoKick" 2019 patent... Highlights: - Physical x digital. - Consumer ownership rights. - Genotypes of sneaker traits. - Breeding, remixing, reselling capabilities. @RTFKTstudios @Nike Full patent: patents.google.com/patent/US10505âŠ
Nike was thinking about NFTs almost as early as the OGs. Can you imagine being âthat crazy crypto guyâ in the meeting room? I hope s/he has gotten a big raise.
The fact that the initial submission of the patent was in December 2018 means that the internal discussions and conception of the ideas were happening several months prior.
But how was Nike going to make their approved patent a reality?
Build their own team from the ground up? Create their own blockchain or token? Incubate their own startup accelerator to design digital sneakers?
Enter RTFKT.
Btw, Itâs pronounced âartifactâ :)
Since its inception in early 2020, RTFKT has focused on creating high quality digital collectibles for the metaverse.
My first exposure to RTFKT was in May 2021 when they had their Meta-Pigeon drop.
I was unfortunately too slow to purchase the $1 meta-pigeons and I didnât want to spend $500 or $2,021 for digital sneakers, so I passed. That was a bad decision. Respectively, they cost $15,000 $12,000 and $24,000 today. This does not include the price of the physical sneaker you got if you purchased the digital versions nor the airdrops that came afterwardsâŠ
What caught my eye was not only the $1 price point (what can I say? Iâm a sucker for good deals!!) but the fact that the Meta-Pigeon drop was a collaboration with Jeff Staple.
Jeff Staple is most famous for his Nike Dunk collaboration, the Pigeon Dunk. The origin story for these sneakers are steeped in Nike lore and the price reflects that.
At this time I was still busy staring at the value of my Topshot moments dropping. Silly me.
The RTFKT name kept popping up.
A collaboration with Fewocious, a prolific teenage artist.
A special digital + physical sneaker drop for Cryptopunks holders.
The momentum for RTFKT continued to grow: More collaborations, the high bar for quality and design, the streetwear angle, and the incorporation of the physical along with the digital.
And on December 13, 2021, things really started to get đ¶ đ„”
Welcome to the family @RTFKTstudios Learn more: news.nike.com/news/nike-acquâŠ
As a Nike fan, I still get chills watching this.
This was not just big news in the NFT space, this was big news in retail, fashion, and business. Due to the nascency of the space, the broader public may have just read the headline and moved on with their day (NFTs are a scam, remember?). But in my opinion, this business decision will cement Nikeâs dominance for the rest of the decade.
Letâs recap some overlapping points Iâve brought up about both brands.
Screenshotted from Nikeâs Corporate Development team, jk
This was an acquisition that the NFT space could get behind, and they showed their approval by voting with their dollars ETH. The value of RTFKT NFTs rose dramatically, particularly with the Clone X collection.
Ok Thomas so what? You wasted another 10 minutes of my life.
Context, dear reader!
On February 5th, 2022 RTFKT dropped every Clone X holder a box, the MNLTH (monolith).
Itâs a ? in a box!
The biggest takeaway for me besides that they did a brilliant job keeping the community engaged for months (kudos to them for all their creative challenges and puzzles over the course of 10 weeks) wasâŠthe LOGO of course!
This is the first Nike-branded NFT.
And last Friday, these boxes were finally revealed.
If you want to see the reveal experience, check it out here! Unfortunately video uploads are in beta and I donât have access (aka Iâm a loser).
For those that think I sent you a phishing link, hereâs a peek of the experience.
My CryptoKick with a Robot skin
RTFKTâs video introduction of RTFKT Nike CryptoKicks provide an overview of the vision that is being built out.
To summarize whatâs going on here, Iâm going to focus on the script of the video.
"Starting with the Nike RTFKT Nike Dunk Genesisâ - Nike ID started with the Air Force one and expanded to other sneaker models. RTFKT is starting with the Dunk and will expand as well.
âPowered by Dream OS and Skin Vial Techâ - There is foundational technology being built that may be used within the Nike/RTFKT ecosystem, and possibly beyond? And skins are equivalent to the concept of colorways with sneakers. âSkinâ is also a common term in gaming to customize your character to make it more unique.
âCollect, evolve, and breed sneaker skinsâ - Collecting is an activity that sneaker fans are familiar with. But evolving and breeding allow for creativity on a whole different level.
âCreated by legendary collaborators, artists, and the RTFKT communityâ - Nike has been the torch bearer of the collaboration concept for decades. Now their collaborators can collaborate with Nikeâs physical products, but also RTFKTâs digital products as well, allowing for a whole different range of design concepts to come to life that may have been previously limited by the physical. And letâs not forget âRTFKT communityâ. One of the most notable paradigm shifts that NFTs are creating is around community first. Everyone in the community has the chance to become a creator and share their creations with everyone else.
âChoose drip upgrades and powersâ - Games in the future?
Letâs take a step back and go back to the patent Nike submitted.
Figure 1 and Figure 2 build on what theyâve done with Nike ID/By You and expanded upon it. Breeding/evolving is already something that can be done, by breaking it down the components. This allows for modularity and scalability.
PS: Did you notice they already called it âCryptoKicksâ back then too? Sheeeeesh.
Mashup aka breeding.
You wonât be able to just collect and evolve your CryptoKicks, youâll be able to use them in videos games.
And how is everyone reacting to this? Well, some are dissecting the intro video, some have already created their own skin vial prototypes, and others are thinking through future applications of the phygital experience.
Ohayo_MomotarĆđž @OhayoKawaki
So whatâs next for RTFKT? We know that digital sneakers will be a big part of their roadmap. But what about Clone X? And whatâs in the MNLTH 2 box? Is this going to be a Matryoshka doll situation? Lol.
My Clone X
MNLTH 2
At least you can save closet space buying digital sneakers, right?
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