Xydrobe ‘Proud’ of JW Anderson NFT Auction, Despite Sale Price
LONDON — A hyper-realistic digital copy of the JW Anderson patchwork cardigan made famous by Harry Styles last year has fetched approximately $7,500 in an auction organized by Xydrobe earlier this week.
Xydrobe, the new NFT auction platform, said a bidder paid 2ETH, or Ether tokens from the Ethereum network, for The Colourblock Patchwork Cardigan, equivalent to $7,500 at current exchange.
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Although that was well below the reserve price of 10,000 pounds, the company said it was “very excited about the great amount of money raised” for charity, and proud of the unique auction.
“As the piece continues to trade in the future, we should see it continue to increase in value as people recognize the value of digital investments,” the company said.
As reported, the money from the sale will go to AKT, designer Jonathan Anderson’s chosen charity. AKT is an LGBTQ charity that focuses on young people ages 16 to 25 in the U.K. who are facing or experiencing homelessness or living in a hostile environment.
A Xydrobe spokesperson declined to say who the winning bidder was, only that the company was “thrilled to have them as a continued customer.”
The cardigan, from the JW Anderson spring 2020 collection, was painstakingly replicated, yarn-by-yarn, in 3D, and digitally “knitted” by the Xydrobe team into the six colored patches — each of which has a different texture and pattern.
The team used similar software and techniques to those employed in the Marvel and “Star Wars” film franchises.
The virtual cardigan took more than 300 hours to complete and was based on images of the sweater, as well as the original pattern, which Anderson released on social media last year after Styles was pictured wearing it during a rehearsal for his appearance on NBC’s “The Today Show.”
The auction marked the first NFT from JW Anderson; the first auction lot from Xydrobe, and the first NFT of this kind.
Xydrobe’s founders — Nell Lloyd-Malcolm, whose background is in visual effects in film; Isabella Gallucci, and Michael Pegrum — told WWD last month they plan to deal with one high-end fashion brand at a time, and to create a singular, bespoke backdrop for each auction.
The plan is to auction one item per month, on average: Following this week’s sale, the Xydrobe team will pick up again in February, with an auction timed to coincide with London Fashion Week.
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