American fashion brand Ralph Lauren will begin accepting cryptocurrency payments at its newly-opened store in Miami's Design District, becoming the retailer's first location to do so.
According to a press release, the store is partnering with service provider BitPay to allow customers to purchase merchandise using bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH) and Polygon's token, MATIC.
In addition, the brand is partnering with Web3 community Poolsuite to release a co-branded non-fungible token (NFT) that will be gifted to existing holders of the Poolsuite NFT membership collection. Members will gain exclusive access to a "special event" and will have be able to update their "Leisurist" avatars with digital Ralph Lauren wearables.
The brand is planning an immersive three-day experience at a private estate in North Miami at the end of April in conjunction with the store opening.
"This store will be an opportunity for us as a brand to gather key insights as we continue to explore the space," Ralph Lauren's chief innovation and branding officer David Lauren said in an interview with WWD. "We are in the early stages of our roadmap, but we see an exciting opportunity ahead across digital goods and virtual experiences to build upon our past touchpoints in the metaverse."
Ralph Lauren has recently been testing the waters of Web3 and released digital clothing collections with popular gaming worlds Roblox and Fortnite. The company's CEO Patrice Louvet said in January 2022 that the company was actively seeking new ways to connect with younger consumers, including through metaverse activations. "There are a lot of parallels actually between the metaverse and Ralph’s vision because we are not a fashion company. We are in the dreams business," he said, adding that the company was "experimenting" with NFTs.
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