colette x Dour Darcels

It’s Spring, the sun is shinning and you’re strolling through the streets of Paris. You see two blue dots and wonder what the logo represents. “Let’s go in… Let’s find out… C’mon,” that voice in your brain says. Its colette boutique. THE infamous colette. A concept store boutique focused on reimagining the retail experience, merging culture, art, fashion, and design to celebrate creativity. But its 2022, the boutique permanently closed in 2017 and this is all entirely a figurative reverie. 

Karl Lagerfeld once said, “it’s the only shop where I go because they have things no one else has,” when speaking about the boutique. Opened in 1997, the boutique had three floors, an exhibition space, a bookshop, as well as a ‘water bar’ selling over 100 brands of bottled water. 

colette is famous for its various coveted collaborations with streetwear and luxury brands, as well as lifestyle labels. Momentous collaborations for the boutique comprise of brands like Nike, Chanel and Hermès and pop-up shops with the likes of Rihanna and Pharrell Williams. 

This year, to celebrate its 25^th anniversary colette is collaborating with non-fungible tokens (NFT) project Dour Darcels from Darcel Disappoints. The collection of 25 one-of-one NFTs marks each year colette has been operating as a retailer and amalgamates the colette sphere of imagination with the world of Darcel Disappoints. 

The NFTs are set to represent the global consumers seen in the store day-to-day, celebrating everyone coming as one and honouring the notion of community. 20 NFTs will be auctioned, and token holders will receive custom Casetify phone covers with their name, token number and an artwork of their 1/1 NFT, in addition to a Dour Darcels hoodie. The remaining 5 NFTs will be reserved as giveaways for Dour Darcels existing token holders. 

This collaboration is followed by the launch of Dour Darcels which comprises of a collection of 10,000 NFT characters created by admired artist Craig Redman, who is the founder of Dour Darcels. 

NFTs have recently become a craze in the online world. They are units of data stored within blockchain technology and are expected to change how we transmit data and connect with one another online, as well as being an opportunistic method of generating investment. Furthermore, NFTs create significant opportunities for new business models that previously did not exist. Artists can attach stipulations to their NFTs and if they increase in value once sold, they can benefit from this. Musicians can also profit from this as NFTs allows their personal brand to offer enhanced media and perks to their fans, creating a closer relationship. 

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.Cent magazine London Be Inspired; Get Involved