Virtual Sneakers: A Guide to the Emerging Digital Trend

The collection that ignited the craze for virtual sneakers came from a collaboration between digital fashion and collectibles company, RTFKT Studios, and 18-year-old artist, Fewocious. In February 2021, they released three editions of virtual sneakers that cost $3,000, $5,000, and $10,000, respectively. Within minutes, they sold out the full collection of 621 pairs equaling $3.1m.

Collectors of the sneakers were able to resell them on the secondary market for double the retail price or keep them and redeem a physical counterpart they could actually wear. Not only could you flex them in real life, but also flex the digital wearable in virtual spaces such as Gala Games, Decentraland, and Sandbox.

Read more about the collab here.

In celebration of Stephen Curry’s record achievement of surpassing the all-time three-point NBA record, a virtual sneaker collection in collaboration with Under Armor made its way to the metaverse titled the “Genesis Curry Flow.” The sneakers are digital renditions of the shoes that the Golden State Warriors point guard donned during the game that he smashed the record and only 2,974 exist to honor the achievement.

The NFTs dropped in December 2021 and collectors were able to buy the memorabilia for $333 using a credit card instead of cryptocurrency. Steph Curry and Under Armor’s first foray into the NFT space sold out within minutes. These collectibles can be found on the NFT secondary market and are compatible to be worn in Gala Games, Decentraland, and Sandbox.

For as low as $9, you can own a package of 25 pairs of Gucci sneakers from the Gucci Virtual 25 collection. This collection was released last year in collaboration with Wanna, an app that uses AR functionality allowing users to try on each pair on feet through their filters.

This collab came after Gucci and Wanna previously allowed users to use the same AR functionality to try on sneakers before purchasing them physically. The Gucci Virtual 25 launched at the shift of revelation that there is value simply in buying virtual sneakers themselves. The sneakers are compatible with partner apps VRChat and Roblox, and are fully customizable in the Gucci Sneaker Garage for users to create personalized designs. 

CULT&RAIN, an NFT luxury fashion brand based in New York, combines the physical and digital realm with their genesis drop of virtual sneakers. Retailing at a price of $1,500, the collection of 2000 sneakers was released in February 2022. Collectors of the genesis drop were able to claim their physical counterparts that are being manufactured in an Italian luxury factory.

The founder, George Yang, is a fashion industry veteran who is leveraging his connections from designing for fashion brands such as Guy Laroche and Cerruti Paris in order to deliver the highest quality of physical goods alongside their digital collectibles. Currently, only the Orion line of the collection of sneakers are compatible in Decentraland, but more lines are expected to be functional across more virtual stages. 

The most notable release of virtual sneakers is from none other than Nike, who recently acquired the aforementioned digital collectibles company, RTFKT Studios. Together, they airdropped 20,000 mysterious digital boxes called MNLTHs for free to collectors of RTFKT’s NFT avatar collection, Clone X. The contents of these mysterious boxes were later unboxed to reveal yet another MNLTH box, a skin vial, and a pair of Crypto Kicks. This drop marked Nike’s first-ever virtual sneaker NFTs. 

Collectors have the opportunity to participate in customizing their sneakers by using the skin vials. However, some sneakers proved to need no modifications at all. Upon reveal, a small number of collectors were surprised with the limited-edition Takashi Murakami collaboration which has now sold for upwards of more than $100,000 dollars. These are expected to be compatible and wearable in Nike’s upcoming 3D virtual space, Nikeland.