On Friday, digital fashion brand RTFKT Studios revealed Nike CryptoKicks, a new collection of customizable non-fungible token (NFT) sneakers. This was RTFKT’s first big sneaker release since Nike acquired it in December.
A distinctive aspect of the collection is the shoe, the RTFKT Nike.Genesis, is separate from the ‘skins’ that change the look and coloring, which for now are created by well-known designers. RTFKT plans to enable other creators and influencers to release their own Nike CryptoKicks skins in the future.
Access to the digital sneakers and skins has been restricted to owners of RTFKT’s Monolith NFT, a token that represents 12,950 pieces of the Monolith. In February, pieces of Monolith were airdropped to holders of RTFKT’s Clone X profile picture NFTs.
The separation of the shoe and skin has created an issue. RTFKT warned buyers on Twitter of an exploit where sellers can list a digital sneaker with a skin but remove the skin before accepting buy offers. Hence the buyer would only receive the vanilla sneaker without the attached skin that they thought they were also purchasing.
The collection was launched on NFT marketplace OpenSea, with the digital sneakers generating approximately 3,100 Ethereum ($8,720,000) in trade volume since Friday. A collection of ‘Skin Vials’ used to customize the sneakers has generated another 2,500 Ethereum ($7,040,000) in trade volume.
Nike launched NikeID in 2000, allowing customers to personalize their own physical Nike merchandise. In 2019, the footwear company applied for the Cryptokicks trademark, followed by patent applications the same year. Not wanting to miss out on the NFT hype, Nike has brought its sneaker customizability to the metaverse.
Rival sports apparel company Adidas is competing with Nike in embracing the metaverse. In December, the company got hold of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) #8774, Indigo Herz, and branded it with the company’s logo. It also bought a plot of land in the Sandbox metaverse game. Partnering with BAYC, CryptoPunks comics, and influencer gmoney, it dropped 30,000 NFTs.