Balmain x Barbie - not just your traditional collaboration

Barbie and Balmain recently launched a new 50 piece ready-to-wear collection. This is not the first time that Barbie has collaborated with a fashion brand, with the first designer to dress Barbie being Oscar de la Renta, but what is interesting here is that this collaboration also sees the two brands come together to launch a series of NFTs. 

Rather than these being digital versions of the ready-to-wear collection, these NFTs will be Balmain-clad Barbie and Ken avatars and the winners of these exclusive NFTs will receive a matching Barbie-sized Balmain outfit. 

I suspect we are likely to see more collaborations in the fashion world that span across both the real and digital worlds, and this is a prime example of how luxury fashion and iconic brands can come together to produce a digital collection that remains authentic to both brands.

From a trade mark perspective, it seems that neither brand has as yet applied to protect their trade mark in respect of NFTs or digital fashion, but we are seeing an increasing number of brands choosing to do so, especially following their regular trade mark portfolio review.