Selfridges Is The World’s First Retailer To Sell ‘Over-The-Counter’ NFTs

Image via Selfridges

Soon, you’ll be able to purchase non-fungible tokens just as you would a dress. Selfridges is set to be the first retailer in the world to debut fixed-priced, “over-the-counter” NFTs, according to reports by fashion and retail trade publications.

This massive move, where the line between digital collectibles and commodities blurs, is part of a collaboration with fashion label Paco Rabanne and Fondation Vasarely, a museum dedicated to the work of Op Art movement pioneer Victor Vasarely. It comes hand-in-hand with Selfridges’ new Universe exhibition, which will showcase Vasarely’s artworks alongside physical Paco Rabanne pieces that take deep inspiration from Vasarely’s art form.

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As for the NFTs, shoppers will be spoilt for choice. At least 1,800 digital tokens—consisting of digitized versions of the first 12 Paco Rabanne dresses and 12 rare Vasarely pieces—will be up for sale between January 28 and March 12. They can go for anywhere from £2,000 (US$2,700) to upwards of £100,000 (US$136,000), and, perhaps most notably, can be purchased with a regular credit card.

According to Vogue Business, the digital Paco Rabanne dresses can be worn in numerous virtual worlds, so it’s pretty much like purchasing an outfit over the counter to be donned in real life. Some garments are huge throwbacks to the past, reviving looks from the 1960s that never made it to market.

The point of it all is to make NFT-shopping accessible to the everyday customer. After the simple process of buying a collectible with a traditional bank card, Substance—the NFT platform supporting these purchases—will automatically create a digital wallet for the consumer, allowing them to skip the cumbersome step of signing up for one or getting acquainted with cryptocurrency.

Even with regular cashier systems, customers might not fully grasp how they work, but they have few qualms about making their purchases through one anyway, describes Substance CEO Jason Attard. Keeping faithful to the traditional shopping process might thus allay the public’s reservations about the crypto world, he adds.

“If you remove the words ‘NFT,’ ‘crypto’ and ‘blockchain,’ you just have the experience,” Attard elaborates.

Proceeds made from the physical and NFT sales will go to the Fondation Vasarely Museum.

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[via Vogue Business and Charged Retail, images via Selfridges]