The ways that we use technology and digital spaces have exponentially expanded over the past year. The pandemic has pushed us to reimagine how we experience everyday interactions and behaviours, and virtual extensions of our everyday lives have now proved essential to our physical worlds. To cut to the chase, digitisation has completely transformed us.
The mass adoption and recognition of blockchain’s immense capabilities are the final frontiers of our global digitisation. It’s a quantum leap into a multitude of possibilities that are already being explored by digital communities worldwide. Blockchain is built with provenance, exclusivity, and scarcity in mind, meaning it organically lends itself to collectable items like luxury fashion and art. While blockchain has been operating for a solid decade, fashion and art are the gilded keys that can unlock a whole world of potential — and that’s where Substance comes in.
ENTER SUBSTANCE, THE FUTURE OF DIGITAL LUXURY
Substance is a pioneering NFT eco-system and marketplace for exclusive and limited edition digital drops from the world’s most renowned luxury brands, designers, and artists (‘creators’) where scarcity, quality, and provenance are paramount.
Our inception was sparked by one crucial question: “How can we build a better sustainable fashion industry while transforming the shopping experience to be more impactful, engaging, and memorable?” The answer lies in kickstarting a technological evolution that bridges community, e-commerce, and blockchain technology to offer purpose-driven solutions for a more economical, ecological, and equitable fashion industry.
At our core, we help creators mint digital garments and artworks (each collectively known as ‘experiences’) and sell them as limited edition tokens. These digital experiences can be interacted with multi-dimensionally, like on social media or in gaming environments. They can also be rented to others or traded on Substance’s marketplace. It’s the dawn of a new era of meaningful collaborations, and our mission is to radically innovate how customers interact with their favourite brands while streamlining the shopping experience in ways not previously imagined.
Customers can also redeem exclusive and limited edition physical products from these drops, made capable by Substance’s state-of-the-art technology. This means brands can code production data into an experience and enable on-demand manufacturing of a physical garment from anywhere.
Substance is built on blockchain-adjacent technology. ‘Adjacent’ because the technology borrows the most innovative parts of the blockchain to create new functionality while existing, for the majority, off-chain. All experiences come with Certificates of Authenticity (CoA), which guarantee an experience’s provenance, scarcity, and fungibility.
Being driven by data and digital-first solutions means we’re able to minimise product waste and operational logistics for brands and designers. It also allows us to determine customer demand before any garments are even made, eliminating the guesswork that comes with manufacturing. Ultimately, these digital solutions enable us to build a more sustainable fashion industry — both online and offline — for a better, more informed future.
AN INCLUSIVE FASHION ECONOMY
Unless you’re a crypto native, we’re aware this is a lot to get your head around. We truly believe digital fashion should be accessible and understandable to anyone curious enough to get involved. Believe it or not, we were all novices, and in a world that is as fast-moving as this, we are all constantly learning, improving, and advancing. That’s the magic of working with a technology that has infinite possibilities.
One of the initial barriers people entering the crypto space for the first time will encounter is opening a crypto wallet. While this process is straightforward, we understand this isn’t for everyone. Perhaps you’re testing the waters or just looking to make a one-off purchase. So to ensure Substance is accessible to everyone, customers can purchase with or without a crypto wallet.
Sure, we sell products, but Substance exists as much more than another e-commerce platform or NFT marketplace. As a team, we’ve spent several collective decades working across fashion, art, culture, blockchain, and technology, and Substance is the convergence of these experiences.
We see ourselves as an ‘eco-system’ fostering an inclusive and diverse community of creators. In this space, we’ll connect the ‘analogue’ spaces of fashion, art, and culture with their fast-evolving digital counterparts. What you see now is just the beginning. Stay tuned, and we’ll open your eyes to a whole new way of experiencing the world.
