Recap of Saper Law’s Fashion in the Metaverse Seminar
Saper Law‘s most recent seminar, “Fashion in the Metaverse,” was a jointly produced event with The Curio. The Curio cultivates Chicago’s fashion community by connecting up-and-coming visionaries to consumer audiences.
The seminar featured fashion designer and MŌS brand founder Estefania Galván and award-winning attorney Daliah Saper. The Curio’s Maggie Gillette served as moderator.
The panel explained how fashion has expanded to the Metaverse – virtual worlds where users can express themselves through avatars and interact with others.
Scroll down for a recap of the seminar.
“How can we monetize brands in this new medium?”
In the picture above, Estefania shows her “phygital” goods, pieces of clothing that exist as physical products and can also be worn digitally on a virtual platform like Decentraland and Spatial. Estefania also designs phygital bucket hats. The physical version contains an NFC tag that can link to any website the wearer desires. Purchasing the physical hat also gives the buyer the option to claim an NFT – a unique digital asset.
Daliah Saper talked about the legal implications of buying fashion products in digital worlds. She highlighted legal disputes involving Hermes and Nike who filed lawsuits against third parties using their brands to sell NFTs. In addition, she cautioned that brands have to be conscious of protecting their trademarks in the physical and digital realm.
The audience, many of whom were designers with their own trademarks and copyrights, asked questions about how they can ensure their brand is protected in the virtual world. Daliah recommended that they file new trademark applications to cover goods and services in virtual worlds.