Paris fashion house Maison Margiela, renowned for its luxury apparel and footwear offerings, has unveiled an engaging Web3 experience centered around its iconic numbering system, a hallmark of its physical luxury clothing and collections. Though the project lacks an official name, it is aptly referred to as ‘blockchain bingo’ and is listed on OpenSea, an American NFT marketplace under the title ‘Numbers’.
This unique experience revolves around 24 token-linked digits, each numbered from 0 to 23, which participants can mint over the coming weeks through a multiplayer game. The objective is to secure all 24 numbers in sequential order to advance to the next phase, with the brand emphasising that this initiative will serve as the foundation for Maison Margiela’s future Web3 community.
A circle denotes the currently active number, while fully minted numbers are depicted in black. The game will conclude when the first 100 users have minted all 24 numbers, or at the discretion of Maison Margiela. The garment tags of the Maison’s physical pieces feature numbers from 0 to 23, with one number circled. Each number corresponds to one of 23 unique collections, signifying the collection to which the item belongs.
Maison Margiela’s innovative gamified minting concept is strategically positioned, as the NFT market experiences a recent slowdown, while the gaming industry continues its rapid growth. According to IPSOS, the gaming sector’s current value is US $ 385 billion, and it is projected to surpass US $ 522 billion by 2027.
Notably, Maison Margiela’s history resonates with the decentralised principles of Web3. The brand’s eponymous founder, Martin Margiela, maintained a low public profile during the brand’s early years, with statements issued collectively by the design team. In 2002, Margiela was acquired by OTB Group, a founding member of the Aura Consortium, which includes LVMH, Prada Group, Mercedes-Benz, and Cartier (part of the Richemont Group).
