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With Metaverse’s growing popularity, the digitalization of the fashion industry is inevitable, but for it to gain traction in the mainstream, we still need new technologies and digital breakthroughs.

Digital fashion has progressed so far that it already needs its own fashion week, with everything it implies: from runway shows and new collection presentations to public talks and parties with true DJs. The first digital fashion week was held March 24-27, 2022, in Decentraland, a decentralized virtual social platform built on the Ethereum blockchain.

Highlights From 2022 Metaverse Fashion Week

According to reports, the Metaverse Fashion Week (MVFW) featured over 60 fashion brands and over 500 looks. Among other highlights were four after-parties and the presence of well-known artists throughout the four-day event.

Selfridges,  Bulova, Estée Lauder, Dolce & Gabbana, Tommy Hilfiger, and Etro were among the many prominent brands and stores present at the event.

The MVFW was a completely free event open to all visitors on Decentraland, where visitors could purchase the fashion brands’ NFTs using the platform’s native decentralized cryptocurrency MANA via their digital wallets.

The MVFW also included exclusive digital events. The VIP events included runway shows, tech demos, and meet-and-greets with designers.

Selfridges Store Opening

The MVFW started with Selfridges, a London-based retailer, launching its flagship shop, where NFT of the real exposition currently held in London was presented. It featured Paco Rabanne and Victor Vasarely’s work that had influenced it. collection. Players could purchase NFT dresses and Fondation Vasarely artworks. Here are the non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in the virtual store in Decentraland.

The Selfridges new store is said to be inspired by the retailer’s Birmingham store and offers a guided tour of past works, history, and highlights using NFTs.

Estée Lauder Launches NFT Wearable

By walking virtually inside the Advanced Night Repair’s “Little Brown Bottle” and unlocking a Proof of Attendance Protocol (POAP) badge, users could claim one NFT wearable to give their avatars a distinctive illuminating aura.

Estée Lauder was the only beauty brand at Decentraland.

Bulova Releases Computrom Watch Version

Bulova, a watchmaker, collaborated with D-Cave, a “lifestyle metaverse marketplace,” to provide a reimagined version of their renowned Computrom wristwatch.

Bulova, a watchmaker, collaborated with D-Cave, a “lifestyle metaverse marketplace,” to provide a reimagined version of their renowned Computrom wristwatch.

Besides their NFT, visitors could purchase the watch in wearable avatars and physical versions.

The watch’s Special Edition version is only available as NFT and is limited to 1,000 pieces. It comes in black and green and has an exhibiting mineral crystal case top that shows off the circuit board inside. According to D-CAVE, it features a sleek black IP stainless steel case and matching bracelet with a green LED time display with dual time zone functionality. 

Bulova accepts cryptocurrencies as payment via BitPay for the actual Standard Edition Computron D-CAVE, which is rumored to cost USD 450.

Dolce & Gabbana’s First Runway Presentation at MVFW

Dolce & Gabbana debuted a collection of designs on the MVFW runway featuring feline models.

The cat-faced models posed on what appeared to be a galactic discotheque, wearing distinctive D&G clothes, including a yellow dress with the brand logo printed all over it.

Fresh Couture, which made its metaverse debut with a boutique store in Decentraland at the MVFW, was also among those that staged a catwalk presentation.

Philipp Plein Show

Philipp Plein opened his show with a massive skull as the brand’s symbol. The skull opened, and its tongue was uncoiled to reveal the models strolling through the exhibition. In this metaverse season, Philip Plein fans are expected to wear sparkling spectacles or respirator masks, helmets with cat ears, down jackets, wings, and bathrobes.

On the brand’s website, prices for skins sold right off the runway ranged from $1,500 for Moon $urfer to $15,000 for Platinum $urfer. These skins come with a bonus: a little skeleton perched on the shoulder, most likely to justify the price.

Following the exhibition, everyone was invited to a party, where Plein broadcasted himself from home, bragging on his Instagram stories that his garments were shown for the first time in them. The designer was wearing his brand’s unique skin: a cat-eared helmet. Cats are popular in the metaverse.

Etro’s New Liquid Paisley Pattern

Etro’s digital collection launched the new Liquid Paisley pattern, a modern spin on one of the brand’s most well-known motifs, in a vibrant palette of fresh and happy colors, with a gender flexible approach influenced by Etro’s open and inclusive vision.

Sophia Robot Attends Metaverse Fashion Week

The arrival of Sophia, the world-famous humanoid robot built and created by Hong Kong-based Hanson Robotics, was one of the main highlights of Metaverse Fashion Week. Sophia was seen visiting numerous places in the Decentraland world, particularly around MVFW locations such as Rarible Fresh Drip Zone.

Decentraland invited visitors to discover Sophia anywhere on the platform and tweet selfies with her using the hashtag #findingsophiatherobot. As a result, users were given the opportunity to participate in a unique NFT giveaway.

Rarible’s Fresh Drip Zone

Rarible’s Fresh Drip Zone, inspired by the streets of New York City, included pop-up stores from 12 companies, including PUMA, Fred Segal, and Perry Ellis.

The Fabricant, Placebo, Girl Gang Label, Artisant, and other designers were also featured in the Fresh Drip Zone.

Special collections from Vault Swiss watches and Miss J, offered by Crypto Couture, were also available here.

In the center of the area, a dome-shaped Rarible store displayed exceptional NFTs and curated unique objects. Visitors could also take part in-store giveaways.

Marc-O-Matic

Marc-O-Matic, an independent artist, opened a store during Metaverse Fashion Week. The store visitors could discover intriguing items like the Space Jockey three-piece set, which resembled a futuristic spacesuit.

On Twitter, the designer thanked Rarible and Metakey for the opportunity.

Dundas World

Fashion designer Dundas World closed the show with a set of digital garments displayed at its pop-up store in the Luxury Fashion District.

The UNXD fashion show and store featured a handpicked capsule of the brand’s latest looks, which were available for pre-order on the brand’s official website. Peter Dundas created bespoke outfits exclusively for the MVFW.

Grimes Show Brings Curtains Down on MVFW

At the event’s conclusion, singer-songwriter Claire Elise Boucher, better known as Grimes, took the MVFW by storm with an electric DJ set for the spectators.

The AUROBOROS X Grimes show at the MVFW featured a performance in a gigantic set that appeared to be a fusion of nature and the sky. Avatars of the attendees were observed climbing a massive spiral staircase to the top of what seemed to be a suspended platform. 

Closing Thoughts

After five days of watching MVFW, it’s exciting to see so many brands participating in the new chapter of fashion history, even if they couldn’t predict the outcome of this experiment. The shows didn’t turn out the way the brands expected, as seen by posts on their social media platforms. This is because brands posted the finest photographs from the exhibition rather than the reality of pixelated avatars and simple looks.

Perhaps the visuals were designed to make viewers nostalgic and only then to amaze them with beautiful results and development of how the future of MVFW will look, even with realistic impressions of the clothing and the models wearing them.

All we can do now is hope that the next fashion week will be more technologically advanced. Balenciaga will be added to the list because it appears to be the pioneer of digital fashion in the world of luxury. 

You can also check out our CoinStats blog to learn more about wallets, cryptocurrency exchanges, portfolio trackers, tokens, etc., and explore our in-depth buying guides on how to buy various cryptocurrencies, such as How to Buy Ethereum Classic, What Is DeFi, How to Buy Cryptocurrency, etc.

While the past few months have been relatively bearish for the crypto space, the bulls emerged victorious in March as nearly all sectors regained lost ground. DeFi, Layer 1, and Metaverse sectors led the way with stellar gains in March, with +27%, +18%, and +17% returns, respectively. 

How did BTC, ETH, and the NFT sector fare last month? Kraken Intelligence’s latest report, Shrugging It Off, takes a closer look at the events that shaped the crypto market in March.

The bulls came charging back

March proved to be a less volatile month for cryptocurrencies than February. While the month started off with a slump for BTC, the bulls came charging back in mid-March, posting a +3% return by the end of the month.

ETH posted even stronger gains, ending the month 11% higher although the asset experienced slightly less trading volatility than BTC. Network activity on Ethereum held steady over the course of the month as average gas fees remained flat month-over-month, while the number of whales and the total ETH they hold both increased sharply, meaning ETH’s price performance was more strongly associated with whale accumulation than an increase in network activity.

NFT activity cooled off

The NFT markets slowed down in March as the number of daily users and transactions fell 30% and 34%, respectively. Interestingly, volume fell only 11% due to an offsetting increase in the average volume per transaction by 33%. This implies high value buyers are sticking around as broader market activity cooled off, reflected in the increase in average prices of blue chip collections. 

Prominent NFT brands have also made big moves in March. Bored Ape Yacht Club creators Yuga Labs, announced its IP rights acquisition of popular NFT projects CryptoPunks and Meebits from Larva Labs.

Want to learn more about what went down and what’s ahead? Download the Kraken Intelligence report Shrugging It Off to understand what’s moving the crypto market.

With lots of cryptocurrency protocols in the virtual space, there’s still a need to create a balance between fiat and digital currencies. The major bridge comes on compliance and AML levels, as many people have devised their means of circumventing the necessary procedure. Wallex brings outstanding measures and is pioneering as the lead in creating stability and compliance in the world economy through digital assets.

What is Wallex?

Wallex is a technological ecosystem that offers assets and digital assets to several users to carry out their business and daily lives. It serves different individuals, businesses, exchanges, broker-dealers, fintech projects, real estate platforms, financial institutions, OTC desks, crowdfunding portals, and others. The activities of Wallex are in over 200 parts of the world, including South America, Europe, North America, Africa, Asia, etc.

The operations of Wallex cut across numerous aspects and phases of lives. Some of its services are linked to the following:

• Payments
• AML and Compliance
• Custody
• Neobanking
• Trading
• Tokenization
• White label solutions
• Decentralized investment
• Wealth management
• Trustee

Pillars of Wallex Ecosystem

Wallex divided its general functionality into five major pillars, namely:

• Neobanking – Through neobanking, Wallet offers its customers unlimited access to several cryptos and fiat currency accounts. They could easily deposit, withdraw, exchange and spend their cryptocurrencies with cards. Also, neobanking inculcates wallet, business banking, institutional engagements, staking, and
• Custody – With the Wallex custody account, users could perform different activities. They could transfer assets from the crypto accounts, make exchanges with fiat currencies, and others. Custody involves the account’s vault, Escrow, and Custody Pro.
• Trust – Wallex Trust operations cut across wealth management, wealth container, tokenization, and insurance.
• Pay – Payment in Wallet passes through several methods. These include payment gateway, Eurst, Tokask, and Trustchain.
• Exchange – Wallex maintains several activities through its exchange. These include borrowing, earning, ProTrade and others.

Founder and CEO

The founder and CEO of Wallex is Simone Mazzuca. He applies a combination of traditional financial and blockchain technology to create a formidable, strong, and reliable ecosystem that will secure even the future. Mazzuca has several years of experience in financial consulting and was a manager of private and institutional clients in the USA, UK, and Italy.

Wallex Contributory Strategy

Wallex is building its ecosystem using a contributory strategy that helps it to improve the economy. The protocol creates a bridge for millions of investors and users such that they can easily access the dividends of the virtual space through blockchain technology.

Wallex strategy is built on the following 5 pillars:

• To create a link to the new financial world.
• Develop a transparent and reliable financial ecosystem.
• Impact the masses on how to utilize the blockchain
• Keep up good contact with the customers.
• Harness its organizational structure to proper maintenance and development of talents.

Wallex Past Achievements

Wallex has made several great achievements in the past that depict the great stance of its ecosystem.

Here are some of its milestones.

• Launch of Wallex Custody
• Initiation and launch of the EURST project. This made a great wave for Wallex as the project enabled the pegging of fiat currency to the digital stablecoin. It’s a method to control the high volatility of digital assets.
• Wallex Bank and Statutory Trust incorporation.
• Launch of Wallex Bank.
• Launch of Wallex 2

Wallex Future RoadMap

Wallex has laid out some plans that will help it to keep up with its strategies in providing continuous services to its customers. Some of its roadmaps include:

• Launch of WLLXB V.3
• Issuance of more than 13 stablecoins.
• Launch of crowdfunding platform.
• Launch of Tokash
• Increasing its number of customers to 1 million.
• Launch of asset tokenization platform.
• Opening of First Wallex Store
• Establish a full ecosystem and become a Commercial Trust of Digital currencies.

Disclaimer: This article is updated all day long. All time codes are in the UTC time zone, updates in reverse order (the latest update is placed at the top).

Paris Blockchain Week Summit (PBWS) hosts multiple thought leaders from the crypto and blockchain universe on its second day, and the Cointelegraph ground team is at the venue to deliver the most recent developments from the event.

Paris NFT Day, the prequel event to the PBWS, saw the announcement of Cointelegraph France. On Wednesday, the Cointelegraph team delivered the important tidbits from sessions, as well as quotes from exclusive interviews, in a near real-time manner. CT reporters had the chance to interview key people from the crypto ecosystem, including Binance CEO CZ, Tether chief technology officer Paolo Ardoino and Binance’s NFT platform lead Helen Hai.

Don’t forget to check this article regularly to get notified about the most recent announcements from the event.

8:00 — The second day kicked off with The Future of Crypto Exchanges in Emerging Markets session.

Bitfinex CTO Paolo Ardoino noted that Tether (USDT), a stablecoin, is seen as a reserve asset in Turkey, Venezuela, Argentina and other similar countries. It’s sad because it should be supposed to work as an FX currency, he added:

“Bitcoin, DEX and CEX are financial solutions for nearly 2 billion unbanked population around the world.”