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Digital fashion startup Syky, founded by former Ralph Lauren executive Alice Delahunt and backed by Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six Capital, is launching a retail marketplace that will bring together both digital and physical fashion.
Timed to London Fashion Week, the first available pieces will be a small collection of items from emerging designer Fanrui Sun, sold as NFTs under her label Sunw. Sun, a Chinese digital artist based in the UK, is one of the 10 brands participating in Syky’s year-long incubation programme, called the Syky Collective. The available pieces include two digital-only dress designs and one digital-physical bag design, meaning the owner receives both a physical and a digital version.
Syky will celebrate the launch of its platform and showcase works from Sun and other participating brands in its collective, including Glitchofmind and Felipe Fiallo on Friday during a celebration with the British Fashion Council, which has provided its fashion curriculum to Syky Collective participants.
The new Syky platform enables the designers to showcase their works for purchase, which will ultimately encompass digital-only apparel, footwear and accessories, in addition to physical “one-of-ones” and augmented reality fashion. Consumers will be able to purchase, showcase and sell their purchases (via a secondary market) on the Syky platform by connecting their cryptocurrency wallets. Earlier this month, holders of Syky’s inaugural NFT, called the Syky Keystone, were invited to create profiles on the Syky platform in anticipation of this launch.
This is a big step toward Syky’s ultimate business model, which is aiming to serve as a sort of next-generation LVMH that fosters luxury fashion brands and earns revenue off their sales, albeit with a digital-first ethos. Delahunt, who is founder and CEO, calls it a “a call to action for the entire fashion industry”.
After launching in November of 2022, Syky announced $10.5 million in funding, led by Ohanian with participation from Brevan Howard Digital, Leadout Capital, First Light Capital and Polygon Ventures Group. In June, it announced the 10 emerging brands (11 designers total) chosen to participate in its incubator with the goal of releasing exclusive collections through the Syky platform.
While this is not the first digital fashion marketplace or platform, it’s the most prominent example of a Web3 fashion platform created by a luxury fashion native for the mainstream luxury consumer — from the ground up. This offers an opportunity to consider the needs and opportunities of the technology, specifically from a fashion commerce perspective, and the freedom to design something without the encumbrance of an existing physical supply chain.
The launch comes as excitement and curiosity from the mainstream consumer about Web3 and digital fashion has waned, even since Syky launched. While this might translate into a quieter drop, it also means that Syky and its Collective designers have more time to test and learn while the platform is in its nascency. Delahunt is focused on the big picture. “When you strip away the noise and look at the facts, one can see that digital fashion is inevitably here and inevitably going to grow.” She points to Nike’s collaboration with Fortnite, which onboarded legions of Fortnite players onto Nike’s Web3 fashion platform, and Roblox revenue that reached almost $700 million last year, thanks to virtual gear.
“Yes, sentiment is low, but when you look at the data, there are consumers buying, trading and collecting digital fashion in a way that is incredibly exciting and makes me believe so much in the space,” Delahunt says.
For designer Sun, her capsule collection was inspired by morphology, the study of organic forms. A one-of-one phygital bag will be auctioned on Syky’s platform starting tomorrow, with a starting bid of ETH 0.65, which is approximately just more than $1,000 as of publication. The physical version is made out of 3D-printed resin with an electroplated chrome finish. The two digital-only dresses are each offered in a quantity of 20 for ETH 0.15 (about $240), with the collector also being able to meet Sun. The digital and physical items are not inextricably linked, meaning that the owner can sell the individual pieces if they wish.
Sun is the first designer to present works after being accepted into the Collective. She has found it to be a “very mature and professional” programme that “provides designers with comprehensive and systematic help”, including coaching in business practices, marketing and mentorship with fashion and tech industry experts, in addition to access to fashion events and media exposure. “This has been very helpful to me as a new designer, not only supporting me with business and marketing, but also helping to increase and enhance my recognition at the same time,” Sun says. “I have been able to focus more on the planning and building of my personal brand, giving me more energy and enthusiasm to devote to digital fashion creation.”
Syky will earn a commission of 10 per cent on any primary drops. On secondary, peer-to-peer sales, Syky will earn a marketplace fee of 3 per cent and the original designer will earn 10 per cent of the transaction value. In addition to browsing, buying and selling, collectors are able to display their digital fashion via their profiles, as making it a social experience was important to Delahunt. “As someone with quite a substantial digital fashion collection, I was really eager to be able to do all of those things.”
Delahunt notes that she sees digital fashion as part of, not separate from, the physical fashion ecosystem. And, of course, there’s still time. Gen Z, who grew up paying for digital fashion, are still in their early 20s, and AR glasses are still largely on the horizon. “It’s still so early. I’m not building Syky for the next three years or the the next bull run; I’m building Syky for the next 50 to 150 years.” Delahunt says. “But this is us putting our flag down and saying, ‘We’re here’.”
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