Luxury fashion brand HUGO announced today (October 3rd) that it will collaborate with renowned Web3.0 company, Imaginary Ones, on a holistic, 360-degree metaverse experience.

HUGO’s first major step into the metaverse, the HUGO x Imaginary Ones NFT collection consists of 1,001 3D animations, entitled “Embrace Your Emotion” (EYE).

Launching in early November, the collection aims to encourage everyone to connect with their emotions – positive or negative.

It also celebrates World Mental Health Day, with some proceeds being donated to the Youth Aware of Mental Health (YAM), a school-based program for young people ages to explore the topic of mental health.

Also Read: A Trillion Dollar Market Up For Grabs: How NFTs Will Become Synonymous With Identity

Getting Your Hands On HUGO x Imaginary Ones History

The collection will feature five characters – each representing everyday emotions of joy, sadness, fear, anger, and love.

A special sixth character will also be auctioned on World Mental Health Day (10th October), with 100% of proceeds going to YAM.

Image: HUGO x Imaginary Ones NFT Collection based off the emotion of sadness

Image: HUGO x Imaginary Ones NFT Collection based off the emotion of anger

For those keen to get their hands on one, there are currently two methods, besides the auction.

With 1,000 allowlist spots, 500 will be allocated to customers who purchase an exclusive phygital T-shirt. These 500 shirts are part of a limited-edition sale, and each will contain a QR code where users can use Snapchat to create a special Augmented Reality effect.

“Phygital is definitely going to be a big space in the NFT Fashion world. As people will start to explore new mediums of how products can be sold in a new and fresh way.”

Clement Chia, Co-Founder of Imaginary Ones

The other 500 spots will be distributed to existing holders of the Imaginary Ones’ genesis collection, as well as via activities on Twitter and Discord from 4th October onwards.

However, do not expect to be able to brute force your way into the allowlist.

In line with World Mental Health Day, Imaginary One’s Co-Founder notes that “for all our giveaway contests, we have always encouraged a no-grind culture. … we strongly believe that being on Discord or Twitter all day is not a healthy mindset for the space.”

As for utility, owning a HUGO x Imaginary Ones NFT gives users a 10% discount in the HUGO online store and access to Imaginary Ones’ staking ecosystem.

Merchandise, experiences, content, digital wearables, and HUGO-themed Imaginary Ones drops are also in the works for holders.

The Metaverse: An inevitable Progression For Fashion

Fashion has always been about both breaking and embracing trends.

“The metaverse is an exciting space for fashion brands, one that is rich with potential for HUGO.”

Miah Sullivan, Senior Vice-President of Global Marketing & Brand Communications, HUGO BOSS

With fashion houses such as Gucci, Vogue, and Prada entering the Metaverse, NFTs seem to be the natural next step for fashion. Collaborations such as CloneX (Nike x RTFKT) have also done well in the space, gaining traction amongst Web3.0 participants.

Image: Decentraland Metaverse Fashion Week 2022, via wundermanthompson

Despite the bear market, the number of Web3.0 collections with major brands seem to be growing exponentially, with NFTs and the metaverse once again returning to mainstream attention.

Imaginary Ones are also not putting the brakes on anytime soon, and “will still have other collaborations with in-real-life or Web2.0 brands to help bring more adoption to Web3.0 space”.

Undoubtedly, this aspect of Web3.0 will be one of the main driving factors for mass adoption, bringing millions of users into the world of crypto.

Also Read: OpenSea To Integrate Arbitrum, Add New Features Amidst NFT Slowdown

[Editor’s Note: This article does not represent financial advice. Please do your own research before investing.]

Featured Image Credit: Chain Debrief