LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–With fashion embracing NFT drops in full force, Balmain leads the way with new NFT marketplace MINTNFT as its exclusive guide to a much larger decentralized dimension. The Los Angeles-based company will elevate the iconic fashion house heritage in a future-friendly Web 3. This long-term, global partnership was announced yesterday at the opening of Balmain’s New York flagship, attended by Balmain’s Creative Director Olivier Rousteing and MINTNFT co-founder James Sun (both pictured).
A single, dynamic “Non-Fungible Thread” will take the French haute couture house deep into the metaverse as this NFT will evolve over time as a key component of the house’s future accessory, sneaker and fashion celebrations, combining both physical and digital, while offering membership benefits to the brand’s influencer family called the “Balmain Army.”
Ever since it was founded by the legendary designer Pierre Balmain in 1945, Paris’ historic house of Balmain has been celebrated for its singular history of creating timeless designs that consistently channel one unified and unique vision—one long, unbroken thread.
“Maintaining a thread is key in fashion,” Balmain Creative Director Olivier Rousteing explains. “In order to extend a clear vision and advance a distinct aesthetic, each and every collection that a fashion designer oversees must be tied together by a single, unifying thread.”
To reflect and celebrate that unparalleled and continuing tradition, the Balmain-MINTNFT collaboration proposes a one-of-a-kind NFT, defined as a “Non-Fungible Thread.”
“I’ve never aimed to simply be cool,” notes Rousteing. “Instead, my goal has always been to ensure that this house’s designs are timeless. A designer needs to create collections that are tied together by a unifying thread. And it’s important to never break that thread—because the moment that happens… well, it means that you’ve failed. It means that you haven’t been able to extend a clear vision and advance a distinct aesthetic.”
Co-founded by tech and entertainment innovators James Sun and Teddy Zee, MINTNFT stands out in the fast-moving Web 3 space with its proprietary video provenance technology and its mission to make the consumer experience simple, safe and secure.
“In a world plagued by NFT speculation and plagiarism, our minting platform and strategic input help protect Balmain’s intellectual property and iconic legacy,” comments Sun.
MINTNFT and Balmain previously collaborated on a NFT campaign with Mattel’s Barbie earlier this year. MINTNFT works with premium brands and large IP, having raised just under $5 million from top blockchain companies and investors like Ripple, Dapper Labs, Alumni Ventures Group and SparkLabs.
As Balmain CEO Jean-Jacques Guével comments, “To develop a truly innovative Web3 strategy, it’d be hard to think of a better set of partners than MINTNFT and Ripple. We’re excited to work closely with them to create Balmain’s space in the metaverse—and to work on a host of singular and exciting projects in the future.”
Because Balmain prioritizes protecting the environment, MINTNFT has selected Ripple as the blockchain partner to support building sustainable NFT experiences for Balmain on the XRP Ledger (XRPL), which was the first major blockchain to become carbon-neutral in 2020. It settles transactions instantly, in a scalable way and without the energy costs associated with proof-of-work blockchains. Together, Ripple and mintNFT are bringing the first fashion NFTs to the XRPL blockchain.
About MINTNFT
MINTNFT is a new marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that makes collecting NFTs simple, safe and secure. The company is focused on providing easy onboarding of mainstream consumers, a high level of security, and IP protection for brands and artists. Through collaboration, community, and successful activations, MINTNFT aims to provide a richer and more meaningful experience around NFTs. https://mintnft.com
About Balmain Paris
More than 75 years ago, when Pierre Balmain first introduced his “New French Style,” it immediately became clear to all that his eponymous house was offering a distinctly fresh, bold, and feminine conception of haute couture, one which broke with many of the well-established conventions of the era. His audaciousness paid off. Pierre Balmain became one of the handful of young French talents who ushered in the mid-century golden age of couture and helped to re-establish Paris as the world’s fashion capital.
For more than ten years, Balmain’s Creative Director, Olivier Rousteing, has been inventively building upon Pierre Balmain’s extraordinary legacy, while always remaining true to his own determination to design clothes that reflect the way his inclusive, powerful, and global Balmain Army wishes to live today. The result is a unique and instantly recognizable Balmain silhouette, style and attitude that highlights the singular craftsmanship of the house’s celebrated ateliers, while consistently referencing a rich Parisian heritage. For more information, please visit balmain.com.
About Ripple
Ripple is a crypto solutions company that transforms how the world moves, manages and tokenizes value to inspire new business models and create more economic opportunity. Our long-term vision is to enable the Internet of Value, where the world moves value like information moves today. Through RippleX, we contribute to accelerating the Internet of Value by inspiring and enabling developers to build solutions that use the XRP Ledger, its native digital asset XRP, and related technologies. ripple.com
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