CryptoPunks Keep Hold on Luxury World as Other Degen Brands Fade

On Tuesday night in midtown Manhattan, crypto’s cultural elite celebrated the conquest of yet another corner of the luxury market, over sparkling wine and small bites at Swarovski’s glittering flagship store on Fifth Avenue.

They were there to kick off the launch of a new line of algorithmically designed, Ethereum NFT-paired, and NFC-chipped custom hoodies, created by a dizzying web of collaborators. 

The 322 one-of-one clothing pieces constituted the second collection from mmERCH, a tech-focused luxury fashion brand, and were inspired by the CryptoPunk belonging to Punk-themed DJ Danny Maegaard, aka Seedphrase. All came with NFTs created by the prominent AI-wielding digital artist Claire Silver, and in a few select cases, featured Swarovski crystal cord ends. Five of those bejeweled hoodies were to be sold by Christie’s, the storied auction house.

Though there were nearly too many cooks to count involved in the project, one key ingredient kept coming up again and again during a panel conversation between its creators: CryptoPunks, the "blue chip" NFT collection that served as the anchoring theme of the hoodie line, and the connection between Maegaard and Silver, both CryptoPunk holders.

“CryptoPunks are the quiet luxury brand of the Web3 space,” Colby Mugrabi, the founder of mmERCH, said during the panel, to many nodding heads. 

At this point, CryptoPunks may not just be crypto’s "quiet luxury" mainstay; the argument could be made that the collection is the only crypto-native brand of any stripe that has been able to meaningfully infiltrate the rarified upper echelons of the luxury industry. 

Nicole Sales Giles, the head of Christie’s digital art team, told Decrypt that the CryptoPunks brand has managed to embed itself in the luxury world in a way other crypto brands haven’t. 

“It's respected,” she said. “Even some of [crypto’s] more historical projects haven't really had the brand continuity or longevity that Punks has.”

Colby Mugrabi and Daniel Maegaard, aka Seedphrase, speak during a panel at Swarovski Fifth Avenue. Photo: Kevin Czopek/BFA

CryptoPunks have graced the walls of some of the world's most prominent art museums, and even featured in a collaboration with the luxury giant Tiffany & Co. While other once-hot NFT brands like Bored Ape Yacht Club have fallen off by some 93% in value since 2022, CryptoPunks have continued to fetch multi-million dollar sums.   

To Seedphrase, whose notorious Punk inspired the hoodie collection—and whose DJ career is also tied to the NFT project—the CryptoPunk difference comes down to the project’s organic origins. The 10,000-piece collection was initially minted for free in 2017, and has managed to retain cultural relevance since then without the meddling of a creative team.

“CryptoPunks never promised anything,” Seedphrase told Decrypt. “Whereas, with Bored Apes, to maintain that floor price, Yuga Labs was constantly dropping tokens or coins, or trying to incentivize the community to buy more Apes.”

Seedphrase believes that now, years later, artists and collectors—and luxury brands—have flocked to CryptoPunks because the collection is one of the few remaining emblems of the organic community that once defined crypto in its nascency. 

“People choose Punks for the right reasons,” he continued. “That is a more genuine and organic message than what other collections have tried to imitate.”

(It is worth noting that the CryptoPunks IP was purchased by Bored Ape creator Yuga Labs in 2022.)

The first five hoodies in the collection—the “ultra luxe” pieces with Swarovski cord ends set in either sterling silver or 14-karat gold—went on auction at Christie’s on Wednesday. Each of those also comes with a unique, one-of-a-kid NFT artwork from Claire Silver, as opposed to an edition work. The rarest of those hoodies, one with cords also studded with Swarovski diamonds, has already fetched a bid of $8,500. The auction closes October 1. 

That same day, the allowlist mint for the remaining 317 hoodies will open for exactly 24 hours, exclusively to holders of mmERCH genesis hoodies and CryptoPunk holders. The pieces will cost 0.269 ETH (about $693 at writing) for allowlist members; the sale will then open up to the public on October 2nd, for 0.317 ETH (currently worth $817) per hoodie.

The hoodies will be randomly distributed to minters, with each featuring different attributes. Only 17 of these pieces will feature Swarovski crystal ends, and one will also feature Swarovski diamond-studded cords. 

Swarovski's Elliot Greenfield embracing mmERCH founder Colby Mugrabi on Tuesday. Photo: Kevin Czopek/BFA

mmERCH’s Colby Mugrabi, who comes from a traditional fashion background, says she expects the collection to appeal both to crypto-native collectors and traditional fashion consumers.

Christie’s Sales Giles agrees. In the last year, she said, digital art and fashion collections attempting to cash in on loyal crypto audiences have faded away, leaving behind what she sees as a mature field of works more likely to be embraced by traditional luxury.

“There's more elevated projects coming out,” Sales Giles said. “There's not a rush to get to all your Twitter followers. That's been a really welcome change.”

Edited by Andrew Hayward