One of the first platforms to consider luxury’s place within the developing Web3 landscape, Arianee has solidified its presence among the leading startups shaping the online world since its launch in 2018. Now, it’s working alongside some of fashion’s biggest magnates including the likes of Moncler, YSL Beauty, and Breitling. The Paris-based enterprise has helped spark mainstream discourse surrounding luxury fashion’s place in Web3 and contributed to the blockchain playbook that companies worldwide turn to today. It offers solutions to brands seeking to tokenize and distribute online assets: specializing in digital twins, NFTs as community access, and proof of attendance.
With the digital world still in its infancy, the channel represents the importance of education and accessibility, as seen in its commitment to ensuring that labels are equipped with the correct personalized toolkit for cracking the virtual terrain. As a result of its efforts, the platform received $20.7 million (148.6 million RMB) in fundraising in May this year, contributing to the acceleration of its international expansion. More recently, the company partnered with POAP Studio in a bid to bring virtual proof of attendance to mainstream fashion. With the concept of “proof of attendance protocols” taking off — particularly during seasons such as fashion week (Christian Louboutin’s Paris Fashion Week event utilized POAPs at its Eiffel Tower showcase) — Arianee’s latest move allows users to own a one-stop wallet system, making the onboarding process as streamlined as possible.
To celebrate the platform’s success and vision towards a global takeover, Jing Meta sat down with Pierre Nicolas Hurstel, CEO and co-founder of the channel, to discuss his ambitions of creating a decentralized future in fashion, why the industry needs to reshape its resell and drop strategies, and Arianee’s commitment to supporting the next era of digital consumers.
The luxury metaverse company partnered with YSL Beauty earlier this year to create a branded wallet and token-gated Web3 hub for the group. Photo: Arianee
Following its launch, the platform has become one of the leading names within the space. What are your ambitions for Arianee?
What we want to build is a different internet, where people manage their data and where the relationship with the brands they like is more communal. And we believe that the link will be a digital asset (our token), which can be used as a digital passport and to enhance physical products. We believe that tokenization will not only unlock amazing and engaging use cases but also transform the way the interaction happens without personal data collection or the need for a centralized platform.
Can you tell us about some of the brands that Arianee has worked with?
We’ve worked with Moncler, YSL Beauty, and Breitling. We have minted more than 500,000 NFTs for every single Breitling watch that has been produced and sold in the past couple of years, which will become the foundation of ticket-gated services and extended membership opportunities. YSL Beauty first launched a collection of 10,000 free NFTs that were dedicated to its most engaged community members, which were all claimed in a very short amount of time. And with Moncler, we just launched an NFT collection with Antoni Tudisco for its 70th anniversary. In all of these, you can see the potential of enhancing products or experiences with digital assets that can complement them and offer a different take on creativity.
Since entering the world of Web3, has Arianee faced any challenges?
Education is always a challenge — making sure that the ecosystem within understands what’s going on. It’s about recognizing what the core principles are. The other challenge is adoption. This is still a technology that is used by very few people across the globe. That’s why our main focus is on onboarding the next billion new customers, rather than just leveraging the OGs in the space.
Luxury is all about exclusive experiences. How do you think Web3 can leverage that?
I think Web3 and luxury have resonated a lot because of scarcity and ownership, which are core elements of the luxury business model. But if you look at drops and models today, lines in front of stores, online randomized raffles, and people who just grab products and then resell them with a premium — it’s broken. Web3 is going to make these drops less stressful for real brand fans and a very rewarding experience. I also think there’s this whole thing of being able to enhance yourself through avatars; it’s the beginning of a new business model for luxury.