French fashion house Balmain launches Non-Fungible Thread with MINTNFT

The Non-Fungible Thread will take the French haute couture house deep into the metaverse as this NFT will evolve over time as a key component of the house’s future accessory, sneaker and fashion celebrations, combining both physical and digital, while offering membership benefits to the brand’s influencer family called the Balmain Army, the two companies said in a joint statement.

Ever since it was founded by the legendary designer Pierre Balmain in 1945, Paris’ historic house of Balmain has been celebrated for its singular history of creating timeless designs that consistently channel one unified and unique vision—one long, unbroken thread.

“Maintaining a thread is key in fashion,” Balmain creative director Olivier Rousteing said. “In order to extend a clear vision and advance a distinct aesthetic, each and every collection that a fashion designer oversees must be tied together by a single, unifying thread.”

To reflect and celebrate that unparalleled and continuing tradition, the Balmain-MINTNFT collaboration proposes a one-of-a-kind NFT, defined as a ‘Non-Fungible Thread’.

“I’ve never aimed to simply be cool,” noted Rousteing. “Instead, my goal has always been to ensure that this house’s designs are timeless. A designer needs to create collections that are tied together by a unifying thread. And it’s important to never break that thread—because the moment that happens... well, it means that you’ve failed. It means that you haven’t been able to extend a clear vision and advance a distinct aesthetic.”

“In a world plagued by NFT speculation and plagiarism, our minting platform and strategic input help protect Balmain’s intellectual property and iconic legacy,” commented James Sun, co-founder of MINTNFT.

Balmain CEO Jean-Jacques Guével commented: “To develop a truly innovative Web3 strategy, it’d be hard to think of a better set of partners than MINTNFT and Ripple. We’re excited to work closely with them to create Balmain’s space in the metaverse—and to work on a host of singular and exciting projects in the future.”

Because Balmain prioritises protecting the environment, MINTNFT has selected Ripple as the blockchain partner to support building sustainable NFT experiences for Balmain on the XRP Ledger (XRPL), which was the first major blockchain to become carbon-neutral in 2020.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KD)