TOP10 NEWS OF THE WEEK / 10.05.2024
Weekly news and stories covering everything from the Fashion System, Investment, and AI to WEB3 and Crypto that truly matter in Metaverse Fashion
EPIC AND DISNEY WANTS TO MAKE 'WHAT EVERY DISNEY FAN HAS EVER WANTED' | [METAPHYSICS]
?? In February, Disney and Epic Games announced that they were collaborating on a “persistent universe” that would feature characters from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and more. Disney franchises have been featured in Fortnite for years, but this new universe promises to be something grander — and will be interoperable with Fortnite. Disney and Epic didn’t share many details about how this would all work when it was announced. But after talking to Epic executives during Unreal Fest in Seattle this week, I’ve learned a bit more about what to expect.
?? A lot of it comes down to connecting into Epic’s ecosystem. “Disney wants a persistent place where all things Disney can be there, but they want to be part of an ecosystem we’ve built,” Epic Games EVP Saxs Persson says in an interview with The Verge. “We see the power of ecosystems interoperating as being really the magic here. From a player perspective, you want to be able to flow between a Fortnite experience, a Disney experience, or any experience really.”
?? For Disney, teaming up with Epic makes plenty of sense. Many players already own a bunch of outfits from Marvel and Star Wars in Fortnite, so if Disney went to the considerable trouble of building a Fortnite competitor, players might not want to move over if they’re already heavily invested in Epic’s ecosystem. Epic has already proved that it can be a great caretaker of Disney franchises in Fortnite, too. And then there’s the business side of things: Disney eliminated its own metaverse division last year, and as part of this new arrangement, Disney invested $1.5 billion into Epic. If Epic succeeds, then Disney will succeed as well.
?? Disney understands that different franchises are suitable to certain experiences, Persson says. “Some IPs are not teen IPs or mature IPs. They are E for everyone IPs.” That’s why you can already play as many Disney-owned characters wielding a gun in Fortnite. Most are from Marvel and Star Wars, but as of last week, the list now includes Mr. and Mrs. Incredible, and Disney villains Maleficent, Cruella de Vil, and Captain Hook are set to be playable characters soon, too.
FIRST NFC WALLET DROPPING THIS TUESDAY | [METAPHYSICS]
?? On October 3, 2024, PhygitalMining officially announced its inaugural drop of 1,000 exclusive phygital wallets featuring NFC-embedded chips. The announcement was made via the company's official Twitter account.
?? PhygitalMining is dedicated to merging fashion with cutting-edge technology. The company not only invests in the production of physical garments, empowering young designers to launch their collections, but also provides NFC-chip embedding technology that transforms these garments into portals to the Metaverse.
?? “We are building the fashion of the future, and we can confidently say that in the next couple of years, there will not be a truly fashionable item without its "continuation" in the metaverse (whether AR, VR, XR, or gaming—agnostic). Conversely, items in the so-called physical world will become extensions of experiences, collectibles, NFTs, and Web3 art objects.” said Denis Chistyakov , founder of PhygitalMining when asked about the philosophy of his project.
?? Each NFC chip, embedded in the physical wallet, contains a specified amount of cryptocurrency that the owner can mine by scanning the chip with their phone. This scanning process can be repeated until the owner has mined the total crypto amount embedded within their fashion item. The first drop will occur on October 8 at 10 AM New York time, featuring 1,000 limited-edition “OG Wallets” with NFC-embedded chips.
? PhygitalMining will participate in Metaverse Fashion Week, taking place from November 20th to 24th, 2024, in the San Francisco Bay Area and online in the Metaverse. In this context, the Metaverse Fashion Council, in partnership with PhygitalMining, announces a unique contest aimed at promoting young designers and supporting them on their journey to phygital fashion.
SHEIN PLANS INVESTOR MEETINGS AHEAD OF LONDON IPO | [FASHION SYSTEM]
?? Shein is initiating informal discussions with investors for a potential IPO in London, pending regulatory approvals, as the Singapore-based retailer faces scrutiny over its supply chain practices amidst criticism from UK lawmakers and advocacy groups.
?? Online fashion retailer Shein is preparing to start early, informal meetings with investors to gauge interest ahead of a potential initial public offering in London, according to a person familiar with the matter.The preparations come as the Singapore-headquartered company awaits regulatory approvals in China and the UK to proceed with its listing, the person added, declining to be identified as the information is private.
?? Shein confidentially filed papers with British authorities for a London listing, people familiar with the matter have said, after an earlier plan to float in New York was met with opposition from US lawmakers. A listing would boost London’s stock market, which has been battling a dearth of IPOs and a string of defections from locally listed companies to the US. But the potential move has sparked criticism from advocacy groups and UK politicians.
?? Liam Byrne, the Labour chair of the Business and Trade Committee in the House of Commons, called for greater scrutiny of Shein’s supply chain last month amid allegations of forced labour. A spokesperson for the company said at the time that Shein has a zero-tolerance policy for forced labour.
EVEN THE 'GODMOTHER OF AI' HAS NO IDEA WHAT AGI IS | [SINGULAIRTY]
Key Takeaways:
?? In a wide ranging discussion on Thursday at Credo AI’s responsible AI leadership summit, Fei-Fei Li , a world-renowned researcher often called the “godmother of AI,” said she doesn’t know what AGI is either. At other points, Li discussed her role in the birth of modern AI, how society should protect itself against advanced AI models, and why she thinks her new unicorn startup World Labs is going to change everything. But when asked what she thought about an “AI singularity,” Li was just as lost as the rest of us.
?? “I come from academic AI and have been educated in the more rigorous and evidence-based methods, so I don’t really know what all these words mean,” said Li to a packed room in San Francisco, beside a big window overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. “I frankly don’t even know what AGI means. Like people say you know it when you see it, I guess I haven’t seen it. The truth is, I don’t spend much time thinking about these words because I think there’s so many more important things to do…”
?? If anyone would know what AGI is, it’s probably Fei-Fei Li . In 2006, she created ImageNet, the world’s first big AI training and benchmarking dataset that was critical for catalyzing our current AI boom. From 2017 to 2018, she served as Chief Scientist of AI/ML at Google Cloud. Today, Li leads the Stanford Human-Centered AI Institute (HAI) and her startup World Labs is building “large world models.” (That term is nearly as confusing as AGI, if you ask me.)
?? Evidently, these definitions weren’t quite good enough for a $157 billion company to be working towards. So OpenAI created the five levels it internally uses to gauge its progress towards AGI. The first level is chatbots (like ChatGPT), then reasoners (apparently, OpenAI o1 was this level), agents (that’s coming next, supposedly), innovators (AI that can help invent things), and the last level, organizational (AI that can do the work of an entire organization).
?? In the next couple years, she’s excited to bring “spatial intelligence” closer to reality. Li says human language, which today’s large language models are based on, probably took a million years to develop, whereas vision and perception likely took 540 million years. That means creating large world models is a much more complicated task. “It’s not only making computers see, but really making computer understand the whole 3D world, which I call spatial intelligence,” said Li.
AFTER MONTHS OF DESIGNING WITH AI, NORMA KAMALI ISN'T LOOKING BACK | [SINGULARITY]
??Norma Kamali Inc. used a tool custom-built for her by the generative-AI creative studio Maison Meta to conjure numerous options to choose from, all of which, in her opinion, looked like they were designed by her. In a sense they were. Maison Meta’s AI was trained exclusively on Kamali’s past work as a way to preserve her design legacy, meaning any “new” ideas it produced reflected back her own creative history. Kamali’s new AI-assisted dresses and the earlier styles they reference stand near the entry to a new installation by the designer in New York intended to give viewers a glimpse into how she’s using the technology.
? It’s called Fashion Hallucinations, referring to the term for the warped or inaccurate outputs AI can yield. In the space are eight-foot cutouts of stretched-looking AI-generated models frozen in motion, while a video with a voiceover by Kamali explaining her use of AI plays at intervals.Nearly two years since ChatGPT introduced the general public to the concept of generative AI, sparking a race in fashion to find uses for the technology, questions about its transformative potential abound.
?? Kamali, who has now been using AI in her design for several months, is not among them. She appears as convinced of AI’s power as ever.“For me, it’s really the beginning of a new way to express creativity,” she said.So far Maison Meta has only trained the AI to produce a few categories of products, including dresses and swimsuits, but it’s changing her creative process in significant ways. For example, instead of trying to sketch out ideas visually, she has to instruct the AI via written prompts. Then she essentially acts as a curator in selecting the best results.
?? The AI Kamali uses is capable of refining the images until their flaws have been stripped away, but she chose to use the unrefined versions in the installation, showing how AI can be used to “evolve and enhance the imperfect images,” according to a panel in the space. Designers who’ve begun experimenting with the technology have pointed to hallucinations as a strength when using it for creative purposes.
?? How consumers might respond to a world of AI-assisted design is also to be determined. So far, brands have faced backlash online when customers discovered they were using AI. Critics have lambasted the technology’s developers for training their AI models on copyrighted material without consent and point to its significant environmental impact.But increasingly, companies are testing out the technology behind the scenes, looking for ways to increase their efficiency or leverage their archives.
BANKS SET TO USE SWIFT FOR TOKEN TRANSACTIONS STARTING IN 2025 | [FINANCE]
?? Commercial and central banks will be able to conduct live trials of digital-asset transactions on the Swift messaging network starting next year, nudging widespread institutional adoption of blockchain technology closer to reality. The organization behind the global Swift network will allow lenders to move real money and assets in trial transactions between different blockchain ledgers, it said in a statement on Thursday, after previously experimenting with such transactions solely in test environments.
?? “What we don’t want to see is the emergence of what we call ‘digital islands’ appearing,” Nick Kerigan , head of Swift's Innovation said in an interview. “We’ve tried to help the industry figure out a way to ensure that wherever a digital asset or a digital currency is created, and whatever technology that’s created on, that those can successfully work together with each other and the existing financial system.”
?? Overseen by representatives from central banks around the world, Swift is a global network that delivers secure messages between more than 11,000 financial institutions in over 200 countries, directing trillions of dollars in transactions. Millions of messages are sent over the network every day, detailing information like order numbers and confirmations for payments that make it possible for money to flow between different lenders.
?? Swift began experimenting with blockchain-based transactions as a way of supporting central bank digital currencies in 2021, conducting a series of trials and pilot programs with banks and other institutions under a test environment known as a sandbox. This step will be the first time that Swift has conducted trials of digital-asset transactions directly on its live network.
?? “We’re a global cooperative, so we are as useful as the financial community finds us useful,” Kerigan said. “As we see the greater adoption of blockchain by the financial community, particularly in the digital assets and digital currency space, then it’s incumbent on us to also be able to incorporate those technologies — and platforms based on those technologies — into our ecosystem.
LUXURY STOCKS SET FOR BEST WEEK IN YEARS AS CHINA FFUELS REVIVAL | [FASHION SYSTEM]
?? Under pressure for most of the year due to a slowdown in Chinese demand, the sector has rebounded strongly over the past five days with a Goldman Sachs basket of luxury companies set to notch its best week since 2012.Stocks including Birkin bag-maker Hermes International SCA, Cartier-parent Richemont and France’s LVMH have all surged more than 15 percent, propelled by China’s pledge to step up stimulus. LVMH’s investment in designer outerwear label Moncler SpA only added to the feel-good factor.
?? “We did feel we were quite close to the bottom and that’s normally the time to buy,” said Piral Dadhania , an analyst at RBC Capital Markets. “What surprised us and caught us offside a little bit is the fact that the China stimulus came and it had a very, very positive impact on share prices.”
?? Given Chinese shoppers play an instrumental role in the fortunes of firms making items like pricey handbags, high-end cognacs and the glitziest timepieces, this is exactly what investors had been hoping for to stem the turmoil.
?? The outsize gains are perhaps not entirely surprising given the growing chorus of bearishness from analysts recently, and with stocks like Gucci-owner Kering SA, Britain’s Burberry Group Plc and German apparel maker Hugo Boss AG trading near multi-year lows. All three issued profit warnings during the second-quarter earnings season and their shares are down more than a third this year.
?? Cheaper valuations have started attracting investor interest. Redwheel portfolio manager Nick Clay said he took advantage of the recent sector weakness to start a new position in LVMH, which he sees as a durable company whose shares have been weighed down by concerns over China and the US.
?? While some strategists see China’s measures as insufficient to sustain a rally in stocks most exposed to its economy, others have cautioned about the risk of missing out. Barclays Plc strategists warned that investors who have snubbed such stocks could face a “pain trade.”
TELEGRAM TAP-TO-EARN GAMING IS HUGE. CAN IIT AVOID PLAY-TO-EARN'S FATE? | [METAPHYSICS]
?? Telegram gaming has been one of crypto’s biggest winners in 2024. Hamster Kombat pulled in 300 million players ahead of this week’s airdrop, and Notcoin launched a token that neared a $3 billion market cap—a screen-tapping game yielding one of the 100 biggest coins on the planet.
? All of this revolves around the tap-to-earn mechanic, a simple concept with a growing list of variations and permutations. But has this model truly evolved upon the fraught play-to-earn gaming craze that dominated the last bull cycle before crashing and burning? Or is tap-to-earn doomed to the same eventual fate of mockery and shrugs from the masses?
?? In 2021, play-to-earn was all the rage with Pokémon-esque monster battler Axie Infinity peaking just shy of 3 million monthly active users. Gamers were required to purchase or borrow three Axie NFTs before they could start playing—a buy-in cost of $600 or more at peak—and then could start winning real crypto tokens by competing.
?? Axie was the tip of the spear of a promised revolution that would benefit players for their time, lift people out of poverty, and redefine modern work. And many other games tried to mimic its model. Instead, Axie’s economy petered out and all of its tokenized assets plunged in price, effectively stunting the growth of the play-to-earn model.
?? “Tap-to-earn games offer a promising improvement over traditional play-to-earn models through their simplicity and accessibility,” CEO of gaming network Immutable, Robbie Ferguson , told Decrypt. “These games significantly lower the entry barrier, especially for crypto newcomers. This approach aims to create more sustainable economies from the start, potentially avoiding some of the challenges faced by play-to-earn models.”?? “The main advantage of tap-to-earn is its potential to reach a wider audience, especially in major mobile gaming markets.” Karel Vuong , co-founder of crypto gaming platform Treasure, told Decrypt. “By lowering the entry barrier, it presents an opportunity to onboard users from previously untapped demographics into the web3 ecosystem.”
FROM MARGIELA TO DIESEL: RENZO ROSSO ON WHAT'S NEXT FOR OTB | [FASHION SYSTEM]
?? Only The Brave, commonly known as OTB Group, was founded in 2002 by Rosso as a holding group for his brand Diesel, which he founded in 1978. The group, which now operates Margiela, Marni, Jil Sander and Viktor & Rolf, is a fraction of the size of rivals LVMH and Kering, with revenues of €1.9 billion in 2023 (versus €86 billion and €19.6 billion, respectively). But its cultural impact is outsized: from Margiela’s John Galliano to Diesel’s Glenn Martens, its creative directors are some of the most talked-about talents in fashion.
?? Galliano has been with Margiela for 10 years. But it was the recent Margiela Artisanal Spring/Summer 2024 couture show in January that underlined his cultural impact, and also boosted the business, Rosso says. Tonight, the house will screen a film about the making of the show. “John, his genius talent and his storytelling skills are unique and captivating. But if you enter a Margiela store, you can feel how different and modern the product is, the technicality and the passion that is infused in every piece is unbelievable,” Rosso says.
?? OTB had a “fantastic” year in 2023, bolstered by strong shows across its brand stable. Full-year revenues were up 10.2 per cent compared to 2022. Though amid the luxury slowdown, 2024 is more challenging, Rosso acknowledges. “This is a difficult moment worldwide for everyone, the most challenging geography being China where everyone is seeing negative signs,” he says. “The main problem is footfall in stores, also across Europe and the US. Even in Japan, where OTB is always growing, footfall is starting to be a point of attention,” he adds.
?? OTB is growing “new, promising” markets like the Middle East (it just signed a joint venture with the biggest luxury player in the region, Chalhoub Group), while investing in expansion in South Korea (which he notes is “super inspiring” in terms of trends) and North America, which continues to be a strategic market and the one with the “highest purchasing power”, Rosso says. It’s also looking to Mexico, which he says has “interesting potential”, and Canada.
?? OTB planned to IPO this year, which Rosso has openly discussed at length. But he halted plans when the macroeconomic climate faltered. Now, he’s sure he wants to forge ahead, but unsure when. “I’d still love to be a public company. I want to be transparent, I want my employees to become my partners. And it’s also about succession, preparing for my family to take over,” he says. “In any case, all companies in our industry are losing on the stock market today, so we will wait for a better economic moment.”
GENTLEMONSTER RELEASED TEKKEN INSPIRED GLASSES WITH AI | [SINGULARITY]
?? On September 28th, the South Korean eyewear brand Gentle Monster announced a new pair of glasses inspired by the iconic Tekken character, Devil Kazuya.
?? Drawing inspiration from Devil Kazuya’s horns, the Gentle Monster x Tekken 8 "Inferno" design features silver goggles encased in a glove-like enclosure, reminiscent of Kazuya's signature red gloves. Horn-like details emphasize the structural frames, while the lenses boast a red, mirrored finish.
?? This collaboration with the legendary Tekken franchise, first released in arcades in 1994 and later on PlayStation the following year, marks the brand’s third successful partnership of the year. Earlier this summer, Gentle Monster collaborated with Mugler, Jenne, and Maison Margiela.
?? The "Inferno" glasses were released on Gentle Monster’s official website on September 27th, retailing for $500, as announced on the brand's Instagram. As of now, just two days later, all pairs have already sold out.
?? To celebrate the collaboration, Gentle Monster also launched a unique AI filter that transforms users into a Tekken 8 character. The filter is available on the brand’s officialwebsite.
Weekly news and stories covering everything from the Fashion System, Investment, and AI to WEB3 and Crypto that truly matter in Metaverse Fashion