Interest in Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) reached a high in late 2021, as the market saw a 21,000% growth rate to reach $17.6 billion. You could say NFT was a buzzword and you wouldn't be wrong. When the term Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) first broke out, it was immediately on everyone's lips. People found it "catchy" and used it a lot. Even major brands found ways to jump on the NFT hype (after acting as cynics for a while). All these are proven by Google Trends which showed that the word “NFT” was one of the most searched words in 2022. This was even more than “crypto”.

If you didn't already know, NFTs are tokens that are unique and can't be replaced because they are non-fungible. Physical money and even cryptocurrencies can be exchanged or traded which makes them fungible. NFTs can be in the form of digital assets like artwork, videos, audio, trading cards, fashion and games (both of which we will talk about as this article progresses). 

How NFTs Work

NFTs are assets that are built on the blockchain (this is a distributed public ledger that records and broadcasts transactions. Every NFT in existence contains unique codes that are used to distinguish them from other NFTs. This unique code is what makes the transfer of tokens between owners easier. It also helps with the verification of NFT ownership. 

Just like with physical assets, NFTs have a value placed on them and they can be bought and sold because they represent real-world assets like real estate and artwork. It is thought that tokenizing tangible assets like real estate and artworks, make the buying and selling of them more efficient in addition to reducing the eventuality of fraudulent activities. 

NFTs in Fashion

With a reputation for being an industry to not miss a trend, it was only a matter of time before the fashion industry became completely engulfed in the NFT frenzy. NFTs provide an alternative means for artists and creatives to foster a community and generate extra revenue and fashion brands are taking full advantage of this. From design apparel that customers can wear in the virtual world (re:Metaverse), to exclusive launches of both content and virtual stores, NFTs in luxury fashion seem to be a budding niche in the industry and one that sure looks like it will be here for a long time too. 

Because of how diverse the industry is, NFTs can be explored in fashion in many ways. Examples of how NFTs are being deployed in the fashion space include:

• Virtual apparel that a customer can wear within a virtual environment

• Digital content that the owners can interact with

• Ownership of skins in the Metaverse etc

According to research by the Vogue Business Index, about 17% of the brands in its research had in one capacity or another worked with NFTs in 2021. Morgan Stanley's prediction of the luxury NFT market growing to $25 billion has seen the number of fashion-oriented businesses entering the luxury NFT space keep expanding.

Fashion in the Metaverse 

The Metaverse is no longer a concept. It is now being fully explored and has seen huge amounts of investments from some of the world's biggest companies in it. Organizations now see the advantages and opportunities that the Metaverse presents and this is why brands are taking part fully in the process of building these virtual spaces. Digital goods are now being worn by customers of some brands on blockchain-backed worlds like The Sandbox and Decentraland.

The first-ever Metaverse Fashion Week hosted on Decentraland was enough evidence to back the fashion industry's interest in the metaverse. The show which saw in attendance the world's most reputable fashion brands like Dolce & Gabbana and Tommy Hilfiger showcased collaborations between famous digital designers. Apart from these popular household names showing interest in the metaverse, one company with all of the potential to be great in the space is MetaWear. 

MetaWear in the real world is a fashion company that is implementing unmatched new ideas and practices in the industry's strategic purchasing, design, production quality control, marketing and sales branches by supporting cutting-edge digital technologies in one of the world's largest industries. The company creates virtualized clothes while transforming the real-world textile industry and its brands. MetaWear transforms the world's top fashion brand's clothing and collections for use in the metaverse. In essence, creating NFT 2.0 cross-platform metaverse wearable clothes and skins with 98.5% indistinguishably real looks and best qualities. 

Another NFT company that is set to take the fashion industry by storm is Seizon. Seizon is a fashion brand that is building a community of survivors through fashion, art and powerful storytelling. Founded by Minty, an entrepreneur who ran a $21 million business at the age of 20 and started the first and only Web3 consultation agency in East Africa, the Seizon team is from and is located in Niagara Falls Canada, and they run the Web2 fashion brand J-OH. Seizon's lead artist GodChi7d (Felix) is also locally famous in Niagara Falls. Having just completed a collaboration with fashion outfit Balmain, Seizon is bridging fashion between Web2 and Web3 backed by its large and experienced team and high-quality art. 

NFTs in Gaming 

NFTs have since their emergence become assets of value adapted to the gaming scenery. Now in-game items no longer have only in-game worth, they are also assets that can be redeemed for fiat or some other cryptocurrency, hence being valuable to the player outside of the gaming environment. The use of NFTs in games has enabled players to take ownership of in-game assets out of the control of the game's publishers. Aside from this, players can also use/transfer their assets on a blockchain to another game that supports that feature and on the same blockchain. 

Sidus Heroes is one gaming platform that epitomises the qualities that NFTs are bringing to the gaming space. Sidus Heroes is a futuristic NFT-oriented play-to-earn multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) with an amazing blockchain journey full of adventures and opportunities. Players in Sidus have ownership rights to all in-game items, which incentivizes them to play and progress through the game. Sidus' gameplay also brings players from different backgrounds and pushes them to find common ground. So for players to succeed in the game, they must collaborate. Players can also go on difficult missions together. 

NFTs For Fitness/Wellness

Yea, this is no joke. NFTs are also being used to achieve exercise and fitness goals. While the gaming niche has the play-to-earn mechanics going for it, the fitness niche has the move-to-earn paradigm and a perfect example of this is the FitBurn project. FitBurn is a platform that seeks to connect NFTs, gym training and play-to-earn mechanisms by rewarding users in cryptocurrency for being active on the platform and burning calories while at it. FitBurn aims to create its own "Eco Payment System" for the fitness industry. The platform has a native utility token known as CAL and it is used as the in-app payment option

for NFTs, gym memberships, vitamins,

accessories, etc. 

Conclusion 

NFTs are being adopted by many industries and because of this, they are slowly becoming an important aspect of the world's economy. NFTs are being used in art, real estate, music, gaming, fashion, tourism & travel etc. A perfect example of the latter is the Trippy Sailors Adventure club. Trippy Sailors Adventure club is the world’s first NFT travel community with real sailing perks. Trippy Sailors are Web3 frens and adventure lovers, looking to meet new people, travel around the world and have a great time doing it. This project offers people who are interested in travel and adventure a unique opportunity to own a digital asset that not only holds value but also has a real-world benefit. 

The club is in partnership with leading yacht and sailing company Catamaran Guru. They will organize hundreds of trips on a luxurious sailing catamaran while giving access to exclusive events and parties as well as offering travel discounts. Trippy Sailors was created by a marketing collective encompassing experienced Web3 marketers, developers and industry advisors who have built successful communities like Bitcoin Bay, CryptoChicks, and CryptoCamp and have helped to launch NFT projects for celebrities like Doja Cat and Steve Aoki.