Takashi Murakami and RTFKT Studios Collaborate On An NFT ‘Avatar Project’

NFT's have tickled fashion's interest for some time, with fashion's attempts at them (non-fungible tokens) producing some rather interesting products of late; from Louis Vuitton's game-infused NFTs to a combination of digital art merged with IRL fashion. The industry's explorations into a digital universe is becoming more well versed day by day, edging ever closer to the hugely anticipated 'inclusive' Metaverse.

The latest in fashion's explorations of all things digital, covering AI and NFT's alike is the collaboration between the virtual fashion collective RTFKT Studios and Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami, revealed to be a large-scale crypto-art project.

Commenting on the collaboration, naming Murakami as a long-standing idol of theirs, RTFKT said in a statement that, 'Bringing Murakami, our favourite artist, to work with us on these avatars and share our vision is the biggest thing we could have dreamed of.'

Although the project's inner details have been purposefully kept under wraps, what is known to the public is that the two are working together on a series of ‘Avatars’ and by 'Avatars' we mean 20,000 digitally-generated 3-D characters with intricate facial details such as the eyes and mouths designed by Murakami himself, all signature elements of his well-established, cartoon-like aesthetic, injected into the designs.

In terms of fashion collaborations, Murakami is no stranger to them having worked with icons such as Kanye West and brands like Louis Vuitton and in recent months alone he has lent his designs to everything from t-shirts to tennis rackets. Neither is he a stranger to the mysterious world of NFT's - illustrated through his first NFT project launched in March of this year which included a total series of 108 digital flowers inspired by Nintendo, supposedly said to ignite the artist's enthusiasm for the ever elusive crypto-art medium.

The physical world may be here to stay for now but the ever-expanding possibilities of crypto art, accentuated by the popularity of NFT's isn't going away anytime soon either. Even the luxury Knightsbridge-based department store Harrods have gotten involved, teaming up with the innovative collective and Murakami for a one-off prize giveaway, accessible for all. To explore the project live, you can do so here.