EXCLUSIVE: CFDA to mark 60 years via Metaverse, NFT exhibit

In 1962, Eleanor Lambert founded the Council of Fashion Designers of America to put American fashion on the map. Sixty years later, the mission to champion US-based designers remains the same. What's different is the map: The association is working on its first-ever foray into the virtual world, the CFDA told WWD exclusively.

To celebrate its milestone anniversary, the association will hold its first fashion exhibition in The Sandbox, as well as auction his first NFT collection.

The virtual event, titled "Fashioning the Shades of American Design," was hosted by the Cleveland Museum of Art's Darnel Lisby. As assistant curator of fashion at the museum, Lisby trained her trained eye on the entire six decades of the CFDA to select 60 looks that capture the essence of American fashion.

It was no easy task, according to Lisby. "As a fashion curator, it's very difficult when sometimes you have certain parameters, but you're trying to fit so many things into such a small space," he told WWD. "At the same time, you're trying to get as many votes [in, or] as many votes for as much as you can.

"I think the one thing that all of us - everyone at CFDA, as well as our digital partners and myself - we all agreed that diversity should ring true throughout the exhibition and this experience," he added. "I wanted to understand how I could bring together different designers in a way that that they complement each other, while creating a succinct story."

For Lisby, diversity crosses both racial and creative boundaries, bringing different styles and sensibilities to the retrospective. The slate ranges from lesser-known looks to "some of the biggest hits" in fashion. All are drawn from the CFDA roster, from years past to the current generation, which alone has more than 450 designers. The final selection includes names such as Ralph Lauren, Patrick Kelly, Donna Karan, Naeem Khan, Tracy Reese, Oscar de la Renta, Anna Sui, Stephen Burrows, Thom Browne and The Row.

To tie it all together with a cohesive narrative, he chose the concept of "enlightenment" and performed through five themes: "Illuminate a Fantasy", "Illuminate the Romance", "Illuminate the Vanguard", "Illuminate the Understanding" and "Illuminate the Soul". Think of it as an opportunity to tell the story of American fashion through different lenses. The CFDA will also be showcasing other looks that fit these themes on their social channels, to shine a light on even more talent.

The immersiveness of the metaverse might make this storytelling resonate even more, though much of that depends on the that a visitor can enjoy "voxelized" or visually blocky environments, such as The Sandbox. (Think of voxels as the 3D version of 2D pixels, but cube-shaped.) Anyone expecting photorealism will be disappointed, but others may not care and may even find it endearing - as evidenced by the popularity of games like Roblox and Minecraft. Using tools like VoxEdit, artists at The Sandbox have even created some impressive artworks and sold them as NFTs.

When the virtual exhibit opens in December, visitors will be able to see for themselves just how l CFDA exhibit translates well. Either way, they'll experience these historic modes in a new way, up close and in 3D.

For Sébastien Borget, CEO and co-founder of The Sandbox, the metaverse is a "new frontier of expression , where avatars will be an extension of our digital identity. For him, the CFDA project is "an unprecedented metaverse exhibition in The Sandbox", and it turns out that his platform and his fashion partner share a similarity: the desire to encourage and elevate creativity. Borget underlined...