MNTGE Is Back With NFC-Chipped Denim Essentials
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MNTGE, a digital fashion house co-founded by Gap collaborator Sean Wotherspoon, returned last week with a collection of digital and NFC-chipped physical patches—each designed by a different heavyweight from the contemporary art world.
Released July 27 on OpenSea, the MNTGE Patchwork collection featured 11 unique patch designs, each created by a different artist. Contributors included Seneca, the lead artist for Bored Ape Yacht Club; Scott Cambell, a celebrity tattoo artist whose clients have included Orlando Bloom and Penelope Cruz; and Christopher Torres, the creator of the viral Nyan Cat meme.
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Patches purchased on OpenSea as NFTs—non-fungible tokens—can be redeemed on MNTGE’s website for physical patches embedded with NFC—near field communication—chips. The technology allows owners to tap the NFC-chipped MNTGE patch and authenticate the digital twin to the physical MNTGE patch in their digital wallet.
“We can’t wait to see what people do with these patches, both digitally and by wearing them physically,” MNTGE co-founder Nick Adler said in a statement. “Being able to chip each patch is such exciting new technology. And with so many permutations of how you can wear them, the clothes themselves will be like works of art and a real-world digital wallet all at once. It’s a collection that we really hope creates connectivity through clothes and what people are wearing in the culture.”
The patches will also offer “token-gated access” to future events, including private listening parties and gallery viewings, and a “soon-to-be launched digital asset interlinking program which creates traceability for customized items and establishes distinct digital identities,” MNTGE said.
Other artists featured in the collection included Micah Dowbak, or Mad Dog Jones, a Canadian digital artist whose clients include Valentino Rossi, Lewis Hamilton and Deadmau5; McBess, the co-founder of the clothing label The Dudes; Bill Farrelly, an embroidery artist who has designed custom outfits for touring artists like Post Malone and Greta Van Fleet; and a selection of high-profile NFT artists.
“This is such an exciting and unique way to collect art made by some truly exciting artists,” MNTGE co-founder Brennan Russo said in a statement. “We hope people will really enjoy the process of wearing them, trading them, and figuring out how to use them as modes of self-expression. And then with the added element of technology, we see these patches as a way to weave in exclusivity and access to some amazing events.”
Launched in 2022, MNTGE released its first physical products in April. The MNTGE Fruits and Veggies collection included an “expert-sourced” one-of-one Levi’s 505 jean embroidered in an all-over fruit and vegetable pattern designed by Wotherspoon, as well as a mix of other Levi’s denim styles. Like the patch collection, each garment was NFC-chipped.
