Ten years ago, Nike entered the future of sports shoes with Nike Mag, a shoe with an ingenious concept inspired by Back to the Future Part II.
The limited edition 1500 was so honored for its unique self-lacing design that it has entered sneaker folklore as one of the greatest products of all time.
From the moment the legendary hip-hop trio Run -DMC from the 80’s gathered the crowd, hoisted Adidas sneakers to the sound of “My Adidas”, to the debut of the most iconic basketball outfit – the “infamous” Air Jordan – the sneaker has become a feature in the pursuit of fashion. culture of respect and reverence.
In these times of visual flooding, it was strange to assume that buying shoes of this caliber would not get real shoes.
However, we are moving fast until today, and that is where we are.
What throughout history was just a tangible resource to be touched, carried and displayed, has undergone a cultural transformation and is now part of a virtual landscape born of blocks and knots.
Photo of RTFKT x NZXT collaboration shoes. Source: RTFKT.
RTFKT Studios (pronounced “artifact”) is an ambitious project at the forefront of future fashion in metaverse.
The group worked quietly for years and worked with selected gaming companies and fashion brands, until it became public in early 2020.
Founded by Chris Le, Benoit Pagotto and Stephen Vasiliev, RTKFT uses new technologies such as game engines, non-perishable tokens (NFT), blockchain authentication and augmented reality to create immersive physical and virtual sneakers, as well as augmented reality or AR, integrated collectibles. …
Over the past 12 months, the project has experienced social growth through collaborations with Jeff Staples and Janet Jackson, as well as collectible digital games in Metaverse’s The Sandbox and Decentraland.
In addition, the team earned an $ 8 million increase in funding in May 2021, thanks in part to dignitaries Andreessen Horowitz, Mike Novogratz of Galaxy Digital and Dapper Labs CEO Roham Garegozlow.
In addition to virtual products, RTFKT has implemented two anti-counterfeiting activities or initiatives that allow holders to redeem physical reciprocity for NFT ownership.
For a look behind the scenes at upcoming RTFKT projects, as well as a glimpse of broader adoption of the NFT fashion culture, Cointelegraph spoke with RTFKT Studios co-founder and creative director Chris Lowe.
Prior to RTFKT, Chris’ career included game design, graphic design work for music companies Def Jam and Sony, making music videos for artists such as Ty Dolla Sign and Anderson .Paak, and making and producing two Netflix movies with Danny Trejo. …
This Zoom interview has been shortened to accommodate reading restrictions.
Cointelegraph: Chris, thank you for joining us today. What is your current role in RTFKT and what projects are you focusing on?
Chris Lowe: I’m the co – founder and head of creative advertising for RTKFT. Day in, day out, I lead a team of artists and design concept sneakers. If I want to get my hands dirty, I will design the sneakers in 3D, do all the reproduction and make them NFT.
To be honest, I do not consider myself a jogging shoe designer, I have never had such ambitions. The funny thing is that when I fell for this, I was incredibly happy that I was able to use my previous skills from video games and filmmaking: making cosmetic items for Dota 2, coats of arms for Counter-Strike Global Defensive, visual effects for fantasy movies on Netflix and more.
Traditionally, athletic shoe designers are trained by the automotive industry. This is why many sports shoes are stylishly designed as cars. However, I feel that my experience has given me a different point of view than other designers.
CT: You recently teamed up with NZXT on augmented reality sneakers. When you know that Facebook just released its first VR glasses, and Ray-Ban and Snapchat are working on a similar product, what do you think about the current possibilities and limitations of augmented reality, and how do you see this space evolving?
CL: I’m a big proponent of augmented reality, virtual reality and XR. The capabilities of the engine are not yet available for hyperrealism, but they are beginning to be implemented using virtual reality, and these engines will be able to translate into augmented reality.
You can wear sneakers on your feet or a jacket with some of our filters, but they are not perfect yet. Right now, the real fans of NFT cryptocurrency are augmented reality fans and Snapchat and TikTok users who use face filters for content purposes.
