Gucci and Yuga Labs team up to 'blur boundaries between physical and digital'

Quick Take

  • Bored Ape Yacht Club creator Yuga Labs and Gucci kicked off Metaverse Fashion Week with a partnership announcement. 
  • The move comes as NFT brands search far and wide for new revenue streams.

Is your metaverse outfit or Gucci handbag lacking something Ape-themed? It might not be for much longer.

Gucci and Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT creator Yuga Labs kicked off Metaverse Fashion Week with the announcement they have teamed up on an as yet undefined project. A statement sent by Gucci said it relates to the Bored Ape metaverse RPG Otherside. 

"Continuing to explore the Metaverse, the House comes together with @yugalabs. Stay tuned as a new narrative takes shape, blurring the boundaries between the physical and digital," the luxury fashion powerhouse wrote on Twitter on Monday.

It's all Gucci

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The move comes as NFT brands search far and wide for new revenue streams, with a prolonged bear market stifling NFT trading and a struggle among rival NFT marketplaces cutting royalty payments to creators.

Bored Ape Yacht Club has long shipped out merch to its loyal band of token holders, but its owner has been looking elsewhere in recent months for new cashflow. After the NFT shop's acquisition of CryptoPunks' IP last year, it also turned to luxury — teaming up with top-end jeweler Tiffany to create NFT-inspired pendants. The so-called NFTiffs sold out at $50,000 an item. 

Yuga has form for working with Gucci. In August, the fashion house started accepting payment in ApeCoin, the token associated with the ApeCoin DAO. 

Updated after publication to include additional details. 


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About Author

Lucy is an editor focusing on NFTs, gaming and the metaverse. Prior to joining she worked as a freelancer, with bylines in Wired, Newsweek and The Wall Street Journal, among other publications. Follow her on Twitter: @LHM1.

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