Louis Vuitton and Burberry are diving into NFTs and online gaming – the luxury brands launch new mobile game Louis: The Game and monogrammed character Sharky B

Aug 9 , 2021

Burberry drops an NFT collection in Mythical Games’ Blankos Block Party. Photo: Burberry

Digital art by Beeple features in Louis: The Game while Burberry will release a limited-edition character in Mythical Games’ multiplayer online game Blankos Block Party

Gucci and other fashion maisons are also considering getting into NFTs, and The Fabricant auctioned the digital Iridescence Dress for US$10,000 in 2019

Luxury fashion houses Burberry and Louis Vuitton are turning to non-fungible tokens and gaming to promote their brands, as interest in digital art takes off.

Burberry will be releasing an NFT game character called Sharky B for Mythical Games’ multiplayer online game Blankos Block Party, it said in a statement Wednesday, August 4. The limited-edition character, which is covered in Burberry’s TB monogram, will be available for in-game purchase on August 11.

“Pushing boundaries through experimentation sits at the heart of what we do at Burberry, and we are continually looking to connect with our communities in the spaces they love,” Rob Manley, chief marketing officer at Burberry, said.

Separately, France’s Louis Vuitton on Wednesday launched a mobile video game, where players can collect 30 free NFTs as they follow the brand’s mascot Vivienne to Paris. Louis: The Game includes 10 NFTs by Beeple, the digital artist whose work sold for more than US$69 million at auction in March.

A Louis Vuitton logo is seen outside a store on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, France, in September 2020. Photo: Reuters

The fashion industry has been looking to tap into the buzz around NFTs and their growing popularity to add lustre to their brands. Gucci and several other fashion brands told Vogue Business in April they were looking at launching NFTs of their own.

Burberry and Louis Vuitton are joining digital fashion companies such as The Fabricant, which in 2019 auctioned an NFT for a digital garment, the Iridescence Dress. It went for nearly US$10,000 at a time when the NFT market was in its infancy.

Burberry will launch an NFT character for the game Blankos Block Party. Photo: @VictoriaFutures/Twitter

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