The Dematerialised and Lukso Co-Founder on the New Creative Economy

The marketplace for digital fashion NFTs and the blockchain technology behind them are challenging the traditional fashion industry

Interviewed by Marjorie Hernandez, co-founder of The Dematerialised and Lukso

Digital NFT The Demerialized
Marjorie Hernandez, Copyright by The Dematerialized

 

Source and Copyright by Dematerialized

Author: House of Eden

The Dematerialised is a Web3 experience market for NFT fashion, which is based on the Lukso blockchain. The digital marketplace combines the physical and digital world and offers a platform for creative digital fashion designers and brands. The platform challenges traditional fashion industry business models, from production to consumption to ownership, while delivering a more transparent, efficient and equitable approach to the fashion world.

We talk to co-founder Marjorie Hernandez about why The Dematerialized is pursuing a particularly sustainable approach and doing away with all prejudices against digital fashion. The multifaceted innovation and product expert is equal parts entrepreneur and art designer.

"We are witnessing a digital renaissance and the New Creative Economy will bring new opportunities, revenue streams and cultural changes to people around the world"
 

ICE CYBAIR

The Dematerialized, ICE CYBAIR

The Dematerialised is a pioneer in sustainable digital fashion. What are the requirements for an NFT to be sustainable?

Sustainability and transparency should go hand in hand. Owners need to be able to understand the sustainable needs of designers and brands. In order for NFTs to be sustainable, it is important to know which blockchain they are based on. Whether they are based on Proof-of-Work (PoW) or Proof-of-Stake (PoS), because that makes a huge difference.

The Dematerialised NFTs run on the Lukso blockchain, which uses PoS and Ethereum's core technology stack, including Ethereum Protocol and Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Compared to blockchains using PoW, which consume large amounts of energy, PoS uses only a fraction of its energy - 99% less.

We are very proud of our sustainability in the company. Therefore we are also listed on the Clean NFTs Marketplace. In addition, we launched an internal sustainability study in November 2021. We are committed to measuring, reporting, reducing and offsetting to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, we also plan to establish the Digital Fashion Alliance, which aims to: Exchange knowledge, best practices and industry standards.

Digital NFT Karl Lagerfeld on The Dematerialized

Source & Copyright by Karl Lagerfeld

What about the social and societal effects, many people are afraid of a second reality without clear boundaries?

By fusing the boundaries between different realities, we create a seamless connection between all dimensions of user self-expression, perception and experience. With the Metaverse we manage to combine worlds between our physical and digital reality. An open ecosystem enables us to develop culture, innovation and creativity, but also new standards and tools. At Lukso, we make these accessible for general introduction and use. We are witnessing a digital renaissance and the New Creative Economy will bring new opportunities, revenue streams and cultural changes to people around the world. A future with unlimited possibilities for developers, users and industries.

The Covid pandemic has significantly accelerated the rise of the Metaverse. What is required for digital fashion to work at scale?

Digital fashion enables designers for the first time to free themselves from the confines of our physical world. Creating a unique digital property opens up a new world of collecting and displaying virtual creations. In order for digital fashion and innovative blockchain technology to actually develop, access to the appropriate tools and standards with a simplified onboarding process and a unified digital base layer is required.

With Lukso we have created exactly that. We enable simplified onboarding processes and integration for mainstream use cases with universal profiles. Through universal profiles, we are giving a standard that was previously absent in this space, the identity. This makes assets and ownership compatible and verifiable. Finally, the digital fashion item (NFT) owner can organize their collections in a digital closet. In addition to that, they can explore and present them.

Digital NFT MCQ on The Dematerialized

Source & Copyright by MCQ

Where do people mainly wear digital clothes these days and how can they buy them at The Dematerialised?

Digital Fashion NFTs can be worn in various metaverse environments when created with the right tools and standards. The Dematerialised allows people to buy digital fashion and phygitals with cryptocurrency or with fiat (via credit card and Apple Pay). These digital garments can be presented, unlocked, experienced, tried on, worn and captured using AR and VR. Through AR, people can wear digital fashion clothes or accessorize their physical outfits with digital fashion pieces. As seen recently at the Institute of Digital Fashion, bringing digital fashion NFTs and the Metaverse to the red carpet.

However, digital fashion can also be worn on avatars via VR or used like a digital wardrobe, to be collected and displayed in universal profiles. Assets purchased through our platform are built on the Lukso blockchain. This enables them to take advantage of this multiverse utility, cross-platform interoperability and digital asset authentication. These are used directly by brands and designers with their own universal profiles.

Does digital fashion lead to a loss of tradition and craftsmanship?

Creative work bridges the boundaries between physical and virtual reality. Traditional design work remains, but artists can explore new areas of digital design. For example, sharing their creations and digitizing their work. Digital designers are also able to enhance their image by creating pieces without physical constraints using digital fashion and digital art.

The physical and virtual realms of product design are transcended. As a result, the demand for consistent and hyper-realistic experiences will redefine established manufacturing processes. Formerly separate silos of creative production come together in the new creative economy, stimulating each other and merging into a common and transdisciplinary lifestyle arena.

Digital NFT RFTK and The Fabricant on The Dematerialised

Source & Copyright by RTFKT & THE FABRICANT

How do you support young designers and how will these digital designers break current fashion systems?

We work with phenomenal young designers and emerging brands like Mutani and Roberts | Wood together. The open, interoperable ecosystem allowed them to establish a direct on-chain relationship with their communities. Designers are no longer bound by physical limitations. We are also developing a DMAT Digital Fashion Incubator that will be a place for knowledge sharing and community support.

Among other things, we are working with an exceptional design school in Mexico, CEDIM, on a 10-month educational project. In which the students design digital fashion and focus on cultural sustainability. This is a global shift that is happening in the fashion industry right now. It will be very interesting to see how big brands approach the digital universe. Much more, I am looking forward to the new talents that will appear in the digital fashion ecosystem in the future. Further will this allow many young creators around the world to thrive.

Many luxury brands collaborate with gaming platforms, is digital fashion a luxury?

Luxury is not tied to the physical dimension. Fashion is multidimensional, digital fashion experiences will be part of the evolution of globally known and emerging luxury brands and designers in an increasingly digital and dematerialized world. New standards and tools make it easy to check proof of authenticity and ownership, even for luxury goods. Karl Lagerfeld, Vogue, Rebecca Minkoff and others have published digital fashion clothing on our platform with their own blockchain-based profiles.

With the Lukso network, lifestyle owners can wear their pieces on different levels of reality. This allows them to preserve their specific context and ownership. Also, brands can form unified narratives around their products that override their reality dimensions even on gaming platforms. The value of the pieces produced is determined by their uniqueness, history and rarity. But blockchain technology can also demonstrate these properties.

Digital NFT on The Dematerialized

Source & Copyright by Vogue Italia

Do you see an interface between virtual and physical fashion or will digital fashion replace it in the future?

I believe that the future will become more and more dematerialized. Even as we plunge into an increasingly digital world, physical materials will still retain some relevance. Physical fashion items can actually be upgraded at the same time. Physical fashion can be authenticated and overlaid with digital fashion pieces, enhancing them with AR filters and bringing those pieces to life. With digitization, the creative possibilities of fashion are becoming limitless.

Phygitals are another option where a fashion item can have a physical version and a digital twin (NFT), allowing collectors to wear the item physically as well as digitally (AR/VR). When an item is a phygital, it also allows for proof of authenticity, proof of ownership, direct on-chain relationships, and other utilities that the issuer may choose. At The Dematerialised, we are already seeing global brands, emerging brands and designers exploring the diverse potential of digital fashion, NFTs and Phygitals. Means that digital and physical fashion can co-exist, but I believe that the future is really dematerialized.

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