Champion and digital creation platform Tafi have teamed up to launch a digital wearables collection, the second time the pair have launched together.
They previously dropped the 2021 Spring Collection on the Samsung AR emoji platform.
Recently, owners of Tafi’s Non-Fungible People (NFP) NFTs have been lucky. The Champion brand air-dropped 888 NFT pieces from the collection for some of the lucky holders of Tafi’s Non-Fungible People collection.
On their website, Tafi describes the NFPs as:
“a groundbreaking NFT collection. It features 8,888 unique female and non-binary PFP avatars, artistically rendered in a hyper-real style. Each NFP holder receives a 3D model of their avatar, which will have the potential to be used across multiple digital environments including video conferencing, gaming, animation, VR/AR and are fully rigged for motion capture.”
New Champion NFTs are Wearable on the Samsung AR Emoji Platform
The new exclusive Champion NFTs are impressive pieces of artwork and wearable on the Samsung AR Emoji platform, where the launch was touted. The wearables can be worn by avatars elsewhere as well, or traded. Perfect for long-time Champion fans and NFT holders, art collectors, purveyors of digital art, or crypto enthusiasts, the new collection with digital asset designer Tafi offers the opportunity to expand one’s NFT portfolio.
If you don’t have a portfolio, it gets easier and easier to start every day.
An NFT is a unit stored on the blockchain. It’s a unique digital asset, complete with a security tag that marks it as unique. It has no direct exchange value like a currency, hence the name “non-fungible.” This makes it perfect for luxury items that have a high counterfeit rate, or art. But NFTs can’t be copied.
The collection includes some pixelated animations, such as “Champion tree”, which features a red-haired pixelated girl throwing the Champion logo into dirt. It sprouts into a tree with the logos scattered throughout. Another pixelated-style NFT includes the “Champion rainbow surfer,” where a young man with dreads in his hair surfs in outer-space, in a style similar to Nyan cat.
Others in the collection include hoodies, like the tie-dye-colored hoodie, aptly named “Champion animated wash cloud hoodie” where pretty, bright neon colors scroll and morph against a white background.
Tafi, a Unique Digital Creation Platform
Tafi was founded in 2019. From their website, they say their mission is to make “personalized avatars and branded digital content available to anyone and everyone who wants to level up their digital personality”.
Tafi is also a digital creation platform that is portable across other platforms including mobile, gaming, XR, social media, messaging, and video communications. Additionally, they developed Daz 3D, a massive 3D marketplace and free software suite with content that “can go anywhere”.
Tafi also touts a more environmentally friendly option for buying NFTs with a credit card. Instead of just using cryptocurrency to buy NFTs, they collaborate with Bitski.
Bitski is a startup that made NFT buying more approachable for the mainstream consumer by bypassing the complex logins needed to access a crypto wallet. Bitski also uses less energy than traditional NFT marketplaces. They wait to mint NFTs until consumers make a purchase. The platform allows credit card purchases, making it more environmentally friendly by using less energy.
About the collection, Champion issued a statement about the new release.
“We are excited to bring this NFT apparel and accessory collection to Tafi’s NFP avatar holders,” said Jonathan Ram, President of Global Activewear at Champion Athleticwear. “Champion is known for giving consumers the confidence to express themselves, and we’re proud to extend this to digital fashion innovation.
This second collaboration and surprise drop begs to see a world where avatars become influencers, and digital mockups can become just as stylish (if not more-so) as their real-life counterparts. It’s possible that Tafi is trying to build a destination where people can dress their avatars to send them out into the digital metaverse, almost like an NFT and certified dressing room for the digitally stylish.
Tafi’s DazStudio Combines Digital Assets with Content
Daz3D comes with DazStudio, a piece of Tafi’s network. It is a platform where the digital assets can be used to create content. The program comes with software tools that allow users to adjust the avatar’s body size and shape, pose it, and more. Other customizations include the ability to change the avatar’s skin tone, the background on which it sits, the avatar’s hair, and more. The digital clothes, once purchased as an NFT, automatically fit themselves to the avatar’s body shape.
Because each NFT carries an unchangeable digital contract, the designers of the NFTs will get a royalty slice each time that an avatar is resold on the blockchain. This also works with other independent NFT designers in DazStudio. Any artist who creates a new hairstyle, clothing item or asset can benefit from purchases on the blockchain.
“At Tafi, we are continually striving to push the boundaries of what is possible with NFTs, and our latest partnership with Champion is another great achievement,” said Preston Woo, Chief Strategy Officer at Tafi. “NFP holders who received Champion airdrops will not only collect iconic Champion products for their NFP avatars but will also own an exclusive piece of digital fashion and personalization. We couldn’t have reached this moment without Champion’s dedication to innovation and leadership in digital fashion.”
Champion’s brand will hopefully draw more eyes to Tafi and the DazStudio.
