Are NFTs the Next Big Step for Sneaker Culture?
In our latest episode of Behind The Drop, we got an inside look at Sneaks Of Nature — canvas art brand IKONICK’s upcoming debut in the NFT space. The forthcoming project hopes to pave the way for sneaker culture’s continued presence in the NFT landscape. How? By providing prospective collectors with the opportunity to participate in an interactive story centered on sneaker culture.
According to the official Sneaks Of Nature OpenSea page, it’s in rarified air as “the first franchise developed around sneaker culture.” Of course, under that franchise’s umbrella is an NFT collection. By owning one of 3,333 Sneaks Of Nature NFTs, holders can “engage with the story, unlock future utility, and own upside in the franchise.”
The energy of Web3 was baked into the brand’s journey from the start, according to the interview between IKONICK founders Jeff Cole and Mark Brazil and nft now. What started as Cole’s 2014 Photoshop experiment snowballed thanks to how his superimposition of a pair of Yeezys on Kanye West’s face blew up in 2013. Since then, Cole worked with Brazil, setting up the foundations of IKONICK, where the brand carved itself a niche as a pop-canvas art brand with prints any sneaker culture enthusiast would enjoy.
But IKONICK’s journey into relevance wasn’t a straightforward one. Despite starting in 2015, the company didn’t begin investing in digital marketing until 2017. While this investment paid dividends in expanding IKONICK’s reach, the entrepreneurial mindset Cole adapted to bring IKONICK to its current state took a toll on him as an artist. “There’s the artist side of me, and there’s the entrepreneur businessman. I’m never too much in the artist mindset. Ideally, I would like for that to flip, and that’s what NFTs have [made possible,]” Cole told nft now.
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