Adidas sees virtual items as next big product category

Adidas revealed its first NFT wearables collection days after Nike announced the debut of its web3 platform where users could buy and sell items like NFT sneakers and jerseys

The 16-piece set of Adidas “virtual gear” includes hoodies and outerwear that owners could use in different online environments, like on avatars in virtual worlds or as profile pictures.

While Adidas previously released a collection of 30,000 non-wearable NFTs, the launch represents a new milestone since they are now an official business area.

Erika Wykes-Sneyd, vice president of Adidas Three Stripes Studios, called the new digital items “the future archive for what comes next.”

However, Adidas isn’t yet putting its virtual gear up for sale directly to the public. The items will be available to holders of a capsule NFT the brand airdropped in May to owners of its Into the Metaverse NFTs.

Adidas has tried to engineer them so they’ll be capable of functioning across different gaming and virtual world environments, including those that might emerge in the years ahead, each potentially with its aesthetic.