Mystery Box NFTs were a big hit last year. On September 18, 2021, the leading global luxury fashion brand Jimmy Choo announced its first-ever NFT project in collaboration with world-renowned artists Eric Haze and Poggy featuring 8,888 unique NFTs each priced at 30 BUSD($30) on Binance’s NFT platform. The project marked the entry of the luxury apparel brand into the realm of web 3 following the trail of its peers like Gucci, Balenciaga, Louis Vuitton, and Prada.
The project featured 8,888 mystery box NFTs alongside a unique sneaker art designed by Eric Haze called the Jimmy Choo/Eric Haze 1000 Glitter, with an image of a quirky sneaker rotating above a piece of text. The sneaker NFT was the only NFT that was revealed to the public before the auction went live. The 8,887 mystery boxes revealed the underlying art only after they were minted from the network.
The mystery box NFTs were divided into four categories including the 1-of-1 Eric Haze design. The other three categories were 445 super-rare cards, 3,109 rare cards, and 5,333 neutral cards. All the NFTs were priced the same regardless of their constituents.
The Past, and the Present
Jimmy Choo was a one-man show, up until 1996. Jimmy Choo was a legendary shoemaker with a distinguished clientele around the world including Princess Diana. He was known for his extraordinary designs with an empowered spirit and a glamorous appeal. The brand was established by Sandra Choi, Mr Choo’s niece who worked as an apprentice under Mr. Choo for two years and later dropped out of her Fashion Design course to take Jimmy Choo to the next level. Sandra Choi joined Jimmy Choo as the creative director, a position she holds to this date.
Today, Jimmy Choo is one of the leading luxury fashion brands in the world with more than 200 stores across all premier shopping destinations. And is the go-to brand for numerous actors, musicians, and leaders. With Kendall Jenner as the global face of the brand, Jimmy Choo has cemented its place in the luxury fashion industry.
The Future
The NFT sale went live on September 20, 2021, two days prior to the special NFT auction, and was sold out within minutes of going live showcasing the strength of the campaign and the popularity of the brand among its customers. People who got their hands on the super-rare cards from the mystery box collection earned a free airdrop spot for future Jimmy Choo NFT projects. An anonymous bidder won the bid for the 1-of-1 Jimmy Choo/ Eric Haze 1000 Glitter NFT and did not just earn the spot to mint the NFT, he also received the original sneaker designed by Eric Haze, the original inspiration for the NFT design.
The monumental success of the unique web3 initiative highlighted the potential of web 3 as a new avenue of opportunities for brands. Jimmy Choo made more than $2,00,000 in less than 2 days from the project, and that conveniently portrays the direction in which the brand is headed in the future.
Marketing Analysis
Jimmy Choo’s NFT project stood apart from all the other NFT projects by leading fashion brands in two ways. First, the design aspects of the project were not made public up until the day of the auction, and the only way to see what was in the mystery box was to buy the NFT and mint it. Second, all the NFTs except the 1-of-1 Eric Haze card were humbly priced to reduce the barrier to entry for people. This opened up doors for new people to interact with the brand and form a connection. And the project was not a corporate stunt to bag hundreds of thousands of dollars from the masses.
It was a noble one. All the proceeds earned from the NFT sale and the auction were donated to the Jimmy Choo Foundation to support Women For Women International, an organization that supports women from war-distressed nations. People connected with the project on multiple levels. They resonated with the design as well as the cause of the project and this is yet another affirmation of the power of NFTs and Web3 in the marketing space.
TL;DR
- Jimmy Choo ventured into the web 3 space with their NFT project announced on 18/10/21.
- The project featured a total of 8,888 NFTs. 8,887 mystery box NFTs and 1 unique NFT designed by Eric Haze.
- The NFT sale went live on 20/10/21 and all the NFTs were sold out on the same day.
- The mystery boxes were divided into three categories Super-Rare, Rare, and General.
- Super-Rare NFT owners were offered free airdrop spots for future projects.
- The auction for the 1-of-1 NFT took place on 22/10/21 and the highest bidder received a physical copy of the sneaker in the NFT.
- All the proceeds from the project were donated to the Jimmy Choo foundation to help women war refugees around the world.
