The possibility of brands building metaverses, virtual worlds where people interact with digital avatars and environments, has attracted a lot of attention since Mark Zuckerberg changed Facebook's name to Meta. Now Adidas is taking its first steps towards this virtual parallel world.

"Today we jump into the Metaverse. It's time to enter a world of unlimited possibilities,” said a recent tweet by Adidas Originals while announcing the launch of its Metaverse strategy. 

"What do we want to achieve there? We want to achieve that every participant can be the best version of themselves. The Metaverse is a place where everyone can present their most original ideas and live out their true selves, in whatever form. Thanks to blockchain [and NFTs], all participants can also certify ownership rights to their creations," the sports brand continues.

To that end, Adidas is entering into collaborations with appreciated names in the crypto world such as, for instance, Bored Ape Yacht Club, a specialist in creating NFTs, Gmoney, a crypto influencer considered as one of the most important voices in the NFT industry, Punks Comic and Crypto Comics, other key names in the Metaverse world.

Last week, the sporting goods company announced that it has partnered with crypto exchange Coinbase to collaborate with open-world blockchain game The Sandbox. Could this new step also eventually mean that it could soon be possible to pay for sneakers and sportswear with cryptocurrencies? Although Textil Wirtschaft asked Adidas further details about its Metaverse strategy, the question has remained unanswered until now. One thing is for sure. This step has already been taken by other brands within the sportswear and activewear segments. Nike has also already been working on Metaverse. As part of a collaboration with the gaming platform Roblox, it launched Nikeland, a virtual digital world where Roblox users can try out mini-games like dodgeball with friends, transferring real-life movements into the game via their smartphone. Moreover, a digital showroom also allows Nike fans to order clothes for their avatars.

 

[The original version of this article has been published December 6, 2021 on textilwirtschaft.de]