From Vintage to MNTGE: Digital Fashion Brand to Release NFT Patches Linked to IRL Rewards

Digital fashion brand MNTGE is gearing up to release its Patchwork collection, comprised of a series of non-fungible token (NFT) patches paired with a physical counterpart.

MNTGE Patchwork features 13 unique digital patches designed by 11 artists including Jen Stark, Bored Ape Yacht Club artist Seneca and Nyan Cat meme creator Christopher Torres. The entire 7,500-unit collection will open for sale on July 27 on NFT marketplace OpenSea. Each NFT will be priced at 0.07 ETH, or $130, and the artwork will be revealed upon mint.

Each NFT is linked to an identical physical patch. Embedded with a near-field communication (NFC) chip, owners can scan the real-world patch to claim the digital token in their crypto wallet. By holding the patch on the blockchain and IRL, users can trace ownership as well as attend token-gated events and exclusive MNTGE experiences.

Additionally, the patches aren’t just one-off collectibles. In the physical world, they can be sewn onto MNTGE’s “base garments,” including t-shirts, jackets and denim. In the digital realm, the patches can be “owned” by the base garment itself. By implementing an ERC-6551 token standard, the digital wearable becomes a token-bound account that can custody the patches – creating an added layer of digital ownership.

Nick Adler, co-founder of MNTGE, told CoinDesk that the company was rooted in the goal of selling vintage fashion and utilizing the blockchain to revitalize its origins.

“People are out there wearing [vintage] and collecting it…young kids want to be authentic,” said Adler. “They don't want a Hot Topic shirt, they want the original shirt, right? So we just saw this natural, really honest use case for the blockchain, and we just felt like the two could really go hand in hand.”

Additionally, MNTGE says it wants buyers to express their digital identity through customization. Brennan Russo, co-founder of MNTGE, told CoinDesk that this characteristic is crucial to the brand, and placing garments on-chain helps facilitate this creative freedom.

“We've always consistently thought about how we bring customers into space,” said Russo. “From customizing denim from a physical standpoint to when we did our digital drop, really early on we allowed people to customize things – customization is really core to what we do and I think this is just doubling down on that.”

MNTGE, which debuted in 2022, has been dedicated to working between the intersection of digital and physical fashion by connecting their garments to the blockchain. In December 2022, the brand released the MNTGE Pass, an NFT that grants buyers first access to its drops. After quickly selling out its passes, it released its first collection of digitally-linked garments in February, created by designer and MNTGE co-founder Sean Wotherspoon.

Upon the release of the collection, MNTGE pass holders will be airdropped a MNTGE concert poster, created by design firm Globe Poster Printing. In addition to being a digital collectible, it will also be redeemable for a physical copy.