It may seem strange to buy a watch that you will never be able to wear. But how often do sneakerheads put on their sneakers? "Most of my friends who are sneakerheads don't wear them," says John Crain, co-founder of digital art marketplace SuperRare, "what do they do with their sneakers? They post photos on Instagram and then put them in a closet. The value of the shoe is in their digital cache." In that case, NFTs do nothing more than make this process easier, and buyers no longer have to deal with the hassle of shipping, storing, and praying that they are actually getting the real deal when buying an expensive sneaker online.

But the true potential of NFTs may not be realized for some time. Almost everyone I spoke to insisted that the NFT craze won't catch on until augmented reality really catches on. s like Google Glass, or Snapchat glasses, can turn your regular clothes into something digitally enhanced: "Now your sneakers can be animated," says Le, "they can have flames coming out of them, magical effects and all that. How do you can you compete against that with physical sneakers?" Of course, this premise depends on the majority of the population carrying a technology that has failed to catch on for years.

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Being able to buy a digital sweatshirt from your favorite luxury brand could help speed up mainstream adoption, too. For now, though, big-name brands have steered clear of the NFT rush. However, his absence has more to do with a longer adaptation period than disinterest. Gucci has dove into the virtual fashion space with digital sneakers that shoppers can play with within an app, but a brand source tells Vogue "it's only a matter of time" before it launches a true NFT. . (A real NFT can bounce around in the virtual world, whereas Gucci's current product is limited to its app.) Nike registered a platform for NFTs called "CryptoKicks" in 2019, but for now it remains a placeholder, the Wall Street Journal reports. Vogue also confirms that several other Gucci-level brands are working on launching NFTs, too.

Even without the involvement of the conglomerate, trendy NFTs are raising an impressive amount of money. Part of this, Crain says, is due to a new crop of wealthy Bitcoin investors who need to spend their money somewhere. But the most enthusiastic investors see something bigger: the opportunity to own a piece of history: "All these articles that we are creating now will be part of the original history of the crypto scene and the crypto movement that is going to revolutionize everything," says Pagotto . Collectors may view buying a pair of Rtfkt sneakers today as the equivalent of buying a pair of Air Jordan 1s in 1985: they think they're buying something bigger than a virtual pair of shoes. "History is being made every day," says Pagotto. As the old saying goes: if the digital shoe fits...