Fashion is what Fashion does! XR Couture' s Founder and CEO Subham Jain shares his entrepreneurial journey and insight on how the Fashionverse is redesigning the metaverse. Find out about the fusion between the the industry's 2 largest canvases. From Nike to Decetraland and many that follow, our speaker sheds light on what impact it already has and what's next.  The leap is closer than you think. Press play.

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Future Couture - Subham Jain

Participants:

• Nadja Bester (CEO & Co-founder of AdLunam)

• Subham Jain (Founder & CEO of XRCouture)

00:22

Nadja

Hey, hey web3 world. This is Nadja Bester from AdLunam, and you are listening to the Future of NFTs, the show that looks beyond current NFT use cases and dives into what non fungible token technology is evolving into. All this as seen through the eyes and built by the minds of the absolutely fascinating guest speakers we are lucky enough to speak to each week and bring live to you. AdLunam is the only IDO Launchpad that rewards attention with allocation, which means that our Engage to Earn platform features dynamic NFT investor profiles, NFT allocation fractionalization and our one of a kind Proof of Attention allocation mechanism. You can catch the Future of NFTs live on twitter spaces every Tuesday and subscribe to us on any podcast streaming platform to tune in to any episodes you miss out on. Same goes for our sister show, Diving into Crypto, which is live every Thursday, same time, same place.

01:33

Nadja

So join us for both shows as we speak to thought leaders and change makers in this game changing, crazy web3 industry that we are all in. Now onto today's show. If Covid has taught us, or maybe just me, anything, it's that pajamas are more comfortable than street wear. Show me a hands up if you agree with me. But it is not a good look to wear your Donald Duck sweatshirt at the mall. However, if you are as clothes averse or shopping averse in general as I am, fear not. No need to hide in your house because you have nothing to wear. The fashion industry is absolutely kicking up a storm in the web3 space with everything from NFTs and the metaverse being styled to the max. And given the trend treatment you might have seen on the news, because there's a news headline almost every single day, that designer brands are embracing the possibilities of web3 at absolutely rapid speed.

02:43

Nadja

And this really indicates that the future of fashion might be as much digital as it is physical. So after a previous episode where I spoke to Eddy Huang, the founder of digital, this is the first time I'm saying this word out loud, so correct me if I'm wrong. Digital, this idea that digital and physical objects merge, which is this exciting place that we are at the moment in web3. So Eddy, the founder and CEO of the sneaker NFT brand, CrazyMeta, introduced us to this idea of where fashion is going. And so many of you asked for more clothes shop talk. I'm very happy that today we are bringing you exactly that. I am joined by Subham Jain, founder and CEO of XRCouture for a deep dive into the digital future of fashion. So hey Subham, where are you joining us from today?

03:50

Subham

Hey everyone. Hey. Thanks for that introduction. And I'm joining from India, the south part of India city called Chennai.

04:00

Nadja

05:13

Nadja

So if you would like to ask a question, do DM your question to the AdLunam Twitter handle at AdLunam Inc. Or of course you can put in a speaker request at the end and we will get you on the podium when we open up for Q and A. Now with XRCouture, Subham has created an international digital fashion collection platform and I definitely invite you to go check out the website so users on the website are able to really style it up with hip and happening clothes and accessories, whether this is in the Metaverse, in games, or in AR, VR. So let's hear it from Subham himself. You started off as a gamer growing up in these digital worlds, virtual worlds that I assume you are much younger than me because I couldn't have grown up in those worlds. They didn't exist in my time.

06:08

Nadja

So you then went on to become a YouTuber growing online gaming communities. So tell us a little bit about how these early experiences really shaped your foray into the business world and into where you are today.

06:26

Subham

Hey, for sure. And yes, thanks for having me here today and love to talk about all about my past, how I grew out from just a kid roaming around virtual worlds and then going into architecture and coming to fashion. So everything fell in place for me. I would say all the experiences that I've had, everything just probably came together and that's why probably I am here today. So, yeah, starting with way back in the time, I'm talking about probably 15 years ago when I was just navigating these virtual worlds such as Club Penguin Mini Planet, where I used to spend most of my time in. I used to just come back from school throw my bags and open my computer so that I could just log into these games and meet my friends. And not the friends that I made in school, but of course the friends that I've made online in these virtual worlds whom I have no idea who they are or where they were from, if they were a 90 year old dude or 16 year old kid, I had no idea who they were.

07:37

Subham

But I just knew for the person, for their avatar, who they were and like that. I made a lot of friends over there. I created YouTube videos around such games. I basically went around teaching people how to navigate these virtual worlds, what they were about, how you spend time in such games and what you can actually do in such games. So there was such a game called Mini Planet. I spent almost five years into that and created, I think, more than over 15 or 20 YouTube videos over it. This was almost ten years ago and these videos generated quite a bit of I mean, it monetized well for me, these videos. So Google AdSense paid quite a bit for that, which kept me motivated on playing the game and creating more content around it. And I of course, encouraged a lot of other people, other gamers, to tell that, to show that, okay, there is a way you could actually play these games and still monetize and make money out of it.

08:41

Subham

So, yeah, that's how it all started for me in terms of these games, of course, I spent a lot of money on these games as well as earning from them. And yeah, that's been my background.

08:58

Nadja

I love that because as the mother of a teenager that has spent an improportionate amount of time on the Internet and in games and on YouTube, I know that as parents, we are always so worried that where is all of this going to lead to? What is going to be the outcome of all of these endless amount of hours that you are spending online and it's all going to waste and you should spend your time better. So I love the story of how these early experiences really sounds like it shaped you to get to this point where now you find yourself really at the cutting edge of technology, in the sense that web3 has all of these incredible possibilities. And who knows where the future is going to take us? But all of the builders in the space are actively participating, and I can hear those threads in the early origin story.

09:58

Nadja

10:21

Subham

Back in those days again, even my parents were worried. They were like, okay, where is this guy going? I was very bad at my academics. I never scored really well, and my parents were really worried about me, what my future is going to be. And because I'm spending most of my time on the computer and playing video games and yeah, it's natural for them to be worried that way, and I'm sure it's very natural for you. And I'm a parent today, so I feel the same way. Probably I would worry for my kid as he grows up. But anyway, today when I have this conversation with my parents about where I am today and what I'm doing today, they just say this at times, maybe we should have just encouraged you. Probably rather than stopping you, rather than locking your PC down or locking that room which had your PC, we should have probably just encouraged you for doing so much more.

11:18

Subham

Maybe you would have made so much more better today. But deep inside I just feel like, okay, no matter what they did, I would actually just anyways, find that key to that room and go log into that PC and still play those games. So anyway, that's something that I'm sure even your kids probably do, that they're really smart. Yes. And coming to the web3 part of it in these games again, in Mini Planet, in these web2 games that I used to play, I of course spent a lot of money in these games. I used to beg my dad for his credit card just for $5 and buy some in game credits so that I could unlock really good skins, wear them around so that I could just look different and I could just look pro. Because I was creating these YouTube videos, and I don't want people to just look at me as some default clothing avatar guy, but I had to be something unique and pro.

12:18

Subham

So I purchased a lot of skins there. But after a couple of years, the game vanished. The developers, they couldn't keep up with that game anymore, so they had to shut it down. And just with that, all the assets, whatever money that I spent, all my YouTube videos, everything, the views started dropping, whatever I had there, everything was lost. So even if you probably look at my YouTube channel, it was just dead. The last video was uploaded like ten years ago. And yeah, everything went away with that game. And I just went back. I was a kid back then, so I didn't know what else to do. I didn't have any I mean, I didn't have anything next. I was just trying to explore different games. But yeah, it was all just web2 back then. But today, after getting in those games, I always had a creative side of me and wanting to do something in technology.

13:13

Subham

14:11

Subham

15:18

Subham

So it saved a lot of back and forth shipments, and of course, a lot of time and a lot of wastage. So with that, I created my first 3D garment. And I realized if I could reduce these six months to one month and it was pretty new. And that's where I started researching more about it. I started learning what else we could do in 3D fashion. And I bumped into all of these figures where Roblox was doing so well with creating skins, and Fortnite was doing so well with creating skins. That is when it hit me that as a gamer, when I was ten, when I was twelve, I used to spend my own money. I used to spend my own money on these skins so that I could look nice in these virtual worlds. And that's when it struck me, if there are people like me who spend like over $50 billion every year on this market, maybe I should create and sell it this time.

16:17

Subham

So that's how I got into creating digital fashion for games. And then slowly the concept of Metaverse NFTs and ownership began. And that's again where it struck me that okay if a game like Mini Planet shuts down and you lose all your assets, but that's in web2. But today if I have to create something and give proper ownership to my users, they would actually buy it and they can use it anywhere. Like it's there in their crypto wallet. Nobody can take it away. It's there on the blockchain.

16:55

Nadja

Yeah, no, absolutely. I actually want to just take a minute and give a shout out to mom and dad. Mr. And Mrs. Jain, I think that all your worries clearly were not, there's no merit in it because your son has gone on to really prove that there is huge success stories that come from just all of that amount of time as a child and a teenager that you did spend in these virtual digital worlds. So yeah, awesome to listen to you. And I wanted to just say on that note, as a parent, I agree that the number one outcome from separating a child from their technology is that they are very quickly going to learn how to pick locks. So let this be a lesson to all of us parents, that for sure. If you are, as a child immersed in these kind of worlds, that really it paves the way to, I think, noticing opportunities.

17:55

Nadja

And this is really what I'm hearing from what you are saying is having that ability to understand that this is what technology is at this moment doing in this area, that also means that actually I can apply these possibilities elsewhere. And I think that penny drop moment where you realize, wow, but actually this is not really being done and perhaps I could be the one to do it. So that's really powerful. Now I want to get into what you are doing at XRCouture. I love your tagline wear clothes that don't exist at AdLunam, the team, since we are all spread across the world, we meet in the Metaverse from time to time and my avatar has this knack of randomly dressing up in the most fantastical outfits. Sometimes my fairy wings are knocking people to the ground. Other times I'm showing up as a warrior ogre princess.

18:50

Nadja

And I love it because, well, apart from the weird fact that I'm not actually choosing these outfits, my avatar really has a mind of her own. I don't obviously dress up like this in real life. So it feels as though I'm leading this really fun double life. In the Metaverse, there's flashy me in real life, real world there's plain style me. Now I've heard through the grapevine from someone who has met you in person that you happen to be a very stylish guy yourself. Now tell me why this compelling urge an architect by training that now are selling clothes that don't exist. What is it that XRCouture is building and why is this so important to you?

19:44

Subham

20:46

Subham

21:48

Subham

So, Influencers, they don't want to be seen in the same outfit more than twice online. They want a new outfit for each one of their posts. And that is where I thought, okay, these 3D clothing could actually be rendered onto someone's photograph, and they could even post it on their Instagram without their followers knowing that this was a 3D clothing because it would look very realistic and it would fit exactly to their body size. So that concept actually grew wide, and a lot of influencers started accepting that, and they stopped shopping for one off outfits, which they would just use for an Instagram post. So this digital fashion outfit solved the same purpose. And in many cases, people used to get more likes and more engagement on these photographs because most of their followers have not seen an outfit that could defy gravity in real world or an outfit that's pretty much on fire.

22:47

Subham

So that was super engaging for the influencers followers. And that concept grew pretty wide. And then we got into the Web3 space where we started creating our first collection was with Decentraland. We launched it during Metaverse Fashion Week. So Metaverse Fashion Week was of course a big hit with 70 plus brands participating from all across the globe, including some of the top brands such as Dolce and Gabbana, Etro, Ellis and a lot of other digital fashion brands, including Fabricant. So this was a superb. Probably this kind of an event for a startup, for a fashion startup is maybe something that you could probably even only dream about in attending in the physical world. Like if it were a Paris Fashion Week or a Milan Fashion Week, we would probably only dream about attending such a Fashion Week. But in the Metaverse it actually happened.

23:41

Subham

Like me coming from Chennai, which is not even the fashion capital, doesn't even come. Like it's probably considered as a third world for fashion. And coming from here, I had the opportunity to showcase during Metaverse Fashion Week. And our concept was of course, we didn't want to just tie up with any designer, but we wanted to tie up with the indie designers that we partnered with two years ago who helped shape XRCouture and the digital fashion industry. So that's where we jumped into the NFT space. We created twelve unique designs and we sold it during the Fashion Week. So today these twelve designs are available to be worn as a wearable inside, Decentraland as a wearable that you can wear on Snapchat using an AR filter. You can wear it even on your photograph and post it on Instagram. You can even bring it to your own environment like a model, like an avatar in your space and you can interact with it, like how Pokémon Go works.

24:45

Subham

And just like that we are adding more Metaverse partnerships where tomorrow you possibly could wire it inside of Sandbox OVR, Somnium space, crypto boxes and many more Metaverse platforms to be added. So yes, we are trying to work towards creating an interoperable platform where all of our designs, the designs that we create, you can wire it across web2 and web3 platforms.

25:14

Nadja

That is just such an amazing journey that you guys have taken because I hear you about really the huge concerns of fast fashion and this idea that I mean, I know influencers that really have told me it's no. Way I can wear the same outfit twice because this is directly going to impact how much engagement I get from the audience because they are only following me for the look and feel that I'm giving them with each new photo. And beyond just this idea of influences. You were saying earlier about having this utility approach, utilitarian approach to dressing up and I'm exactly the same. You have the black t shirt and jeans and I have the black shirt and skirt or black dress and I don't really wear anything else because, well, I traveled a lot and for me it's incredibly just it's a nightmare if I have to start thinking about outfits.

26:23

Nadja

So I just look the same every day and then I know that okay, there's other things that I need to think about and worry about. But now there's this whole new world that is opening up where whatever your concerns are in the real world, whether it's in some cases a lack of finances even, because I mean, fast fashion, it might be cheap, but if you are constantly buying new clothes, that's a sizable chunk of your budget that's going to constantly looking and feeling great. And also this idea that if you have any sort of concerns about the environmental impact of fashion, I mean, I try even to not buy new clothes, but rather shop secondhand, just because I'm so painfully aware of the cost, the environmental costs and the labor cost of this monster of an industry that we've created. And now you have the metaverse and these virtual worlds where you really can completely change who you are, how you present yourself.

27:26

Nadja

And it's interoperable, as you say, so you take it with you wherever you go and you really are in control of what you present yourself as to the world. Now I'm curious, do you think that the future of fashion lie in NFTs the metaverse and these virtual worlds? Because it seems that way from how many leading designer brands are really racing to get in on the game. And I saw this, who was this Burberry? They launched recently a Minecraft collection. And I showed my son, who is a huge, I don't even know to say fanatic probably, and he had never heard of Burberry. And he said, well, I don't understand why they are doing this makes no sense to me. And then once he started looking through the outfits and he saw something like a hoodie that looked pretty cool, he was like, okay, maybe I'll wear that.

28:30

Nadja

And it was such an interesting moment for me to go like someone who my son is completely not into fashion at all. He doesn't even notice what he's wearing, but just that merge of his interest with a completely different industry and suddenly, okay, there's a light that switches on. So do you think that this is the future of fashion is to bring this into the virtual world? And also how do you think this is going to impact the existing fashion industry? I mean, are we going to still see this huge just push for new outfits at the cheapest cost or do you think that there is going to be some positive impact from moving fashion more into the virtual world?

29:19

Subham

30:32

Subham

31:28

Subham

Fashion has always been there. And now fashion has realized that gaming is a very important part of our culture and that is where the next generation is. So tomorrow, if probably you want the next generation of users to know about your brand, it's not going to be over. Like they would probably stumble upon a giant billboard that showcases what your brand does, or a magazine maybe, where you have your brand featured. But it's more likely that the next generation would come across your brand inside of a game, inside of a 3D environment where they're just playing a shooter game with their friends or they may be just hanging out. And probably if you have a store around the most popular block, that's where they come across your fashion store. They'd learn about your fashion brand, maybe walk into it and buy that hoodie that you have.

32:19

Subham

So that's definitely why brands would want to get into it. And it is definitely the next generation is not going to be walking down the streets, but walking down a virtual metaverse 3D platform and getting to know about your brand.

32:36

Nadja

What a great answer because I was talking to this with well, I was talking about product placement in movies with my son a couple of days ago and explaining this concept. And as Gen, I don't even know what he is probably Z, I don't know we should have another show so I can remember how those things work. And he was saying, well, I don't understand, why would brands pay this much just for you to see, I don't know, a can of coke in a movie? But take that concept into a game and for sure, 100% they notice these brands because they are from a different generation where the rules of the game have changed completely. But now I'm curious because we talk about these major fashion brands and I mean it's not only fashion brands, but in every industry, web2 industries or even just any other industry, noticing what is happening in the gaming space, noticing what is happening in web3.

33:39

Nadja

Do you think that with all of these big designer brands coming into web3, is there still room enough for web3 native fashion projects to survive, to thrive? Or are we going to simply see a repetition of the big guns coming in and just gobbling up all of the available opportunities?

34:04

Subham

Well, I would say definitely not a major reason being that today the ones who are coming up with digital only companies, digital fashion only companies, they're definitely the younger generations and these people know how to navigate about the space, they know the next generation of consumers. But the way the traditional fashion brands see them is just as what they used to see in the web2 space, like the typical consumer. But today it's no more about that. It's about building a community and giving back to your users. So the conception, the entire perspective of a marketing strategy, the way of doing sales, everything has changed. And for a traditional brand to get a hang of it in today's space, it's not going to be like they just hire a bunch of CMOs, like a chief metaverses’ officer, hire like say, five web3 experts in the space and get it done.

35:06

Subham

No, that's not how it works. It has to be a part of their culture. And a part of the culture cannot be built by just hiring a new team, but it has to be by probably collaborating, by the way of collaboration. Maybe you collaborate with a digital fashion native company. So that is probably their best chance to survive against the new and upcoming digital fashion brands. I would put it the other way.

35:33

Nadja

Yeah, that's awesome because I think this narrative that some people have where whenever the companies that we already know are at the top of whatever industry that they find themselves in, they have the money, they have the resources, they have the ability to put their fingers in everywhere. But I think what you are highlighting is so incredibly important that the next generation, and I mean this really is the future of the business world and of all of these different spaces. They simply do things differently and the same rules for sure don't apply. And I think we've seen a couple of times with different examples where for sure companies have taken exactly that approach let's just get in someone who knows about all this stuff. Even though our business is completely not in alignment with where we are trying to insert ourselves. And for sure it will work because we are just jumping on that hype train.

36:34

Nadja

And the new generation, I mean, they'll just ignore you. So it's not about they're going to hate on you just don't exist to them if you're not part of the language that they speak. But I want to zoom out a little bit beyond fashion and I think it's clearly something you've highlighted that exactly as you said, fashion follows culture. So it makes complete sense that where culture goes. So fashion will go there as well. But what do you think is the larger, broader Future of NFTs and how do you think it's going to evolve from the typical NFT use cases that everyone is talking about today? Which yes, fashion is becoming more and more part of that conversation. But maybe what other avenues do you see the Future of NFTs as being?

37:28

Subham

Yes, so in terms of again about the future, so I'm sure most of you here would have come across the latest news about the way Reddit actually sold NFTs without using the term NFTs and that's kind of like trending everywhere. So earlier it was like if you sold an NFT and you shouted out loud that you're selling an NFT, that would make like super big PR. And today if you sell NFTs without saying the word NFT, that makes super big PR. So that's how tomorrow is going to be where NFT is just the technology behind your digital collectible. It's an asset that you own on the blockchain. NFT is just a technology and that's how it should have been done and probably this is how it is going to be done. And today it's very natural for any fashion brand and anybody to be afraid of the term NFT is because it is a new technology and any new technology can be scary.

38:28

Subham

Everybody was scared about mobile phones and touch screens. Everybody were being scared of just social media, like uploading a photo of themselves online. Today nobody cares about it. Like, okay, do whatever you want, but not that way, but whatever. You get the point, right? So people are scared about technology and NFTs. 95% of the NFTs today projects are mostly scams and it's just very natural for anybody to be afraid of it. And it's just that tomorrow how we change that conception. I know a lot of leading gaming companies that today who don't want to enter the NFT space because of the scams that are going on, because of how their existing gaming community kind of hates it for all the scams that are going around. But tomorrow, again, you don't really have to put it that way. It's just the way you're going to really picture it with your audience.

39:24

Subham

You just have to sell them a digital asset, which is backed by a blockchain. And that's how things are going to be tomorrow. Today, probably everybody owns a crypto wallet, and they say that I have these many NFTs, but tomorrow it's just going to be like, okay, I have virtual assets. It's like owning anything physical tomorrow, whatever you own virtual is just going to be as normal as what you own today. Physically.

39:49

Nadja

Yeah, I really love that take because I think, as you say, we are focused so much on the concept of NFTs itself. And I find it incredibly interesting whenever I happen to mention to someone who's perhaps not in this industry, for example, that I'm doing the show, the moment they hear the word NFTs, you see this look on their face where they are trying to decide, okay, up until now, they had respect for me. They thought me perhaps an intelligent person. But now they are really going to have to rethink their assessment of me because really, NFTs, but at the end of the day exactly. NFT is a technology and what we are now thinking of, or have been thinking of as NFTs, the stuff that makes the headlines, the $69 million painting sold, and then it's just a bunch of little tolls on a digital JPEG.

40:51

Nadja

People are going to move away from this and get to the point where, yes, you have stuff that you own in the real world, you have stuff that you own in the digital world, and we already have this in other areas of our digital lives. I mean, we already own digital assets. If you think about how much music do we own now? Well, nothing. Before we had all of these CDs and even cassettes before that. And today you have a Spotify account and you don't really own anything, but you think of it as yours because you made the playlist. So there's a lot of really exciting things coming up as soon as we start broadening, I think, our horizons in terms of how we think about not just NFTs as a technology, but really all the possibilities of Web3. But I think you touched on this already.

41:44

Nadja

Mentioning scams, mentioning people's fears in terms of something that they don't know about and they don't understand. But how do you think we are going to solve this problem of right now, there's quite a negative perception of NFTs. How are we going to get to a point where it really just becomes virtual asset mass adoption?

42:13

Subham

It's actually super difficult. I face through this every day, and I have this conversation with my I must sell, but I have this conversation with my grandfather, and he reads the newspaper every day. He sees that there has been some kind of crime in this crypto space and NFT space, and he tells me to just stop whatever you're doing. Just join your family business. I don't want the cops to come at our doorstep. And arrest you. And I got to explain him what I'm doing. And I'm not the 95% part, but I am the 5% part of what the industry is going to be tomorrow. So it is a challenge, it is a bigger challenge when you have to explain it to the elders and of course, there will be more education to it. There will be more when the bigger companies come and do it the right way, just like how Nike did with Artifact Studios.

43:06

Subham

So there would be bigger companies. And I think, yeah, that would probably be the day where when the big companies come in and actually adopt it the right way and show how it has been done to their peers. So maybe that is when the conception of NFTs would change and actually not probably have the term NFT used at all. Maybe the Twitter, the next Twitter space that we have, we're just going to be saying virtual assets, digital collectibles, and 3D fashion items. So that is when it would all change.

43:42

Nadja

Yeah, I don't know what I'm going to do with the name of the show then. So I hope that's a little while away from now because we'll have to do a completely rebrand. So the last question before I open the room for questions. So, audience, do slide into the AdLunam Twitter handle DMs if you want yours answered. I see that there's a whole list already, so I'm very eager to get to that point. Subham, what is your philosophy about Web3 changing lives?

44:12

Subham

Well, talking about what Web3 is, how it's already changed lives. We're talking about like, just like me, a lot of other gamers have realized that the assets they own in the Web2 space is not really theirs. The kind of voice that they can have inside of Web3, the kind of opinion that they can do. It's all changing, especially a lot for digital artists. So it all started with when there was this royalties, the creator fees, where digital artists could actually have an income on an ongoing basis. And I feel the Web3 space is where the creator economy is going to boom and where we really don't have to work a nine to five job and really work for a big corporate maybe, where you could just have a computer. Today, you can be from any third world city. All you need is a good internet connection and you can make your living out of it.

45:17

Nadja

46:18

Nadja

Whether you have an XYZ, whether you don't, it's a truly democratizing space to be in. But on that note, let me see. I have a really long list of questions. What is your take on cultural outfits picking up in the Web3 space, like sarees or designer? Hijabs. And this is by Laura. Thank you, Laura.

46:45

Subham

Well, that's a beautiful question. And I must share about this project that was at the concept stage, but it was never realized. But there was this project were working with a Chinese traditional designer where the way that she did her hand embroidery, it was dated, like, centuries back. And what the idea of that project was to with digital fashion, we kind of document the process of the hand embroidery by using a haptic glove. And this would basically save it as a file on the computer, because today, the workmanship, the craftsmanship that is involved in creating such traditional styles, which are like, there are millions I mean, you look at China, you look at India, there are millions of different handcrafted traditional styles which are completely lost. And I would definitely love to do something about it. If there's this person in your DMs who would love to maybe has a project to it, I'd love to speak to them and have something done regarding it, because I've been looking for an avenue where I can really help traditional fashion come up and be there forever in the space.

47:58

Subham

So yes, coming back to the answer, the Web3 space is of course going to help this 3D file be online forever, so that this practice is never lost and probably can be used tomorrow by schools and teach the students how to use such practice by again using that Haptic Glow or demonstrating live how the original craftsmen used to do it. Maybe they had this master class even after 100 years.

48:27

Nadja

Wow. Yeah. The possibilities of things like this are endless. And on another note, I think this is my official entry point into Future of NFT's guest matchmaking, because we had another guest on the show, Cyber Shakti. She's one of the NFT artist OGs. She started really early in the NFT art space. And I know that she has worked on projects where not necessarily fashion based, but preserving the cultural heritage of India, especially in terms of maybe not directly fashion, but really just the different cultures in India and how they express themselves through art. So think I should hook the two of you up and then at your business wedding, you can tell the audience that it was me. I always like getting credit for happy endings. So, next question. What, according to you, makes hot selling fashion in the metaverse? And who is this? Okay, I can't pronounce it's very difficult to pronounce your username.

49:38

Nadja

I'm sorry, I can't even try. So what are the top selling fashion items or styles in the metaverse?

49:49

Subham

Well, there's a simple answer to this. Clothes that don't exist. Clothes that you cannot probably produce in the physical world. Clothes that defy gravity, that's like on fire. Because everybody wants a unique expression inside 3D world, because the possibilities of ways you can express yourself is enormous. And imagination is just the limit. But of course, pixel counts and the poly counts are also a limit. That's another subject. But yes, imagination is just the limit. You can do a lot more with it. And of course, the hottest selling outfits are the clothes that cannot exist in the real world.

50:29

Nadja

So if my team is listening to this, I hope they are watching out. Because now that I know what's trendy and that I am already trending in the Metaverse without even realizing it, I'm going to go on your website and I'm going to go have a look. What can I get on there that's going to make me stand out even more? But, you know, it's funny. Speaking of your website, I had a look at it, and the first thing that came up for me, and again here I'm really giving my age away, is I used to play paper dolls. And when I saw that, I was like, oh, my God. This really is like playing paper dolls, where you have this paper doll, then you have different outfits and you dress them up and dress them down. And it's just so amazing, this evolution of the non-technology expression of how we want to style and really just dress things up.

51:19

Nadja

And now to bring this idea into this world where I mean, having company meetings in the Metaverse, you have to wear something, so you might as well wear something that dazzles. So, yes, I think this is an amazing question. Thank you so much for this Fashika. I hope I'm saying your name correctly. Will control of an avatar allow for any body type? Or do you think there will be more body shaming in the metaverse? So what are your thoughts on body shaming in the metaverse? Will people, I assume, be dressing up for their own bodies or will they feel the pressure to perhaps look a certain way according to what other people would want them to look like? Very good question, thank you.

52:17

Subham

I would say they won't bat an eye in the real world, probably you wear a duck costume and roam around, people are just going to be looking and staring at you. But nobody's going to bat an eye in the Metaverse. It's just about how unique you are and you're beautiful and expression, self-expression is like it's freedom. You can explore yourself even better. It is sad, but I'm saying this of course, real world, of course people don't freely express themselves but in the virtual world they're able to do so because they feel safe there and it is the sad truth. Hopefully our real world also translates like that. But yes, there is not going to be any kind of I mean, at least for as far as what I know. I go around like during Metaverse Fashion Week I had this beautiful pink dress with fur on my b**** and I was just like roaming around the metaverse and nobody questioned it, nobody asked anything about it.

53:22

Subham

So yeah, it was fun. I loved it.

53:27

Nadja

Yeah, I think that is such an important point you are touching on because were laughing recently when we had a company meet and when the platform then automatically generates your outfit for you or even your avatar for you. Some of our male team members ended up showing up as women and even women of other religions and it was just such a fascinating thing to see that you really are able almost in a sense to experiment with being other people. And what I'm thinking of now is perhaps this will even highlight certain biases that people have because I can imagine, you know, as perhaps a man in real life you don't not you specifically. I mean men in general don't always experience the same kind of treatment that a woman does. But I read in some write up that someone did of the metaverse when they were in the metaverse as a woman how much extra attention they got.

54:29

Nadja

So even just aspects like these where you are able to express yourself in any direction it might really bring to light the biases that people have towards certain groups and perhaps that's even something that as a metaverse user we can all play around with and see how we are being perceived by people depending on who we are in that moment. But I mean the cool thing is you can always change who you are. So in real life if you don't like your hair it's going to be quite difficult to get different hair. But I mean, in the metaverse you can really just play it up and play around with how you express yourself and also learn to be comfortable, perhaps in a way that is not so easy in real life because there is this sense of separation when you are in a virtual world that you perhaps don't take things as seriously or as personally.

55:19

Nadja

So that could also I mean I can even envision a future where people have some kind of therapy session in the metaverse, for example, if you think of body dysmorphia, et cetera, but completely different topic, I see that we are running out of time, as always. I don't know why time is so much against me on this show. I'll try to get at least one more question in what are the future plans? Any fashion shows? So I presume XRCouture, do you have any new fashion shows upcoming? And even if people can participate or get involved in some way, let us know where.

55:59

Subham

We actually have a lot in store that's coming up. Of course, with all the Metaverse partnerships and the different places that you can wear the same design. I always tell brands that if in real world, are you selling an outfit to your end user who can literally wear it anywhere, right? I mean, there's no restriction. You don't restrict them to wear it to this particular boundary. You don't let them just restrict like, okay, you can wear it only it in your house, but if once you get out of it, you need to change it, that's not the case. So I tell them, why do it in the 3D world? So why sell them an outfit that they can wear it only one game or one matter of platform? Why not sell an outfit that can be worn across all of these platforms? So that is the question that I've asked a lot of these fashion brands and they are curious to what we are building.

56:48

Subham

And that's something that we are coming up with pretty soon. You can expect it pretty soon. And of course, all of these snippets can be gotten with our inaugural project, which is the MetaDrip. And we promise our holders that it's going to be the most awarding utility driven project, where even if, let's say, we have multiple partnerships with Metaverse platforms, this is where you can expect it to happen and probably be the most interoperable fashion garment you would have ever owned in your life. So, yes, that's next for us. And yes, you can definitely expect to wear this garment across web two and web three. When I say web2, it can also be Roblox, Minecraft, and Sapito, all of these platforms that you see out there, exciting times.

57:36

Nadja

So I'm going to pose one final question from Patrio, and I think this is advice that I also personally would like to hear. So please make sure you even include the older ones of us in the audience. I'm not that old, guys. I'm just kidding. Please don't think of me as too old. What, according to you, makes the right fashion statement both in the metaverse and out, especially for artists and designers?

58:10

Subham

That’s philosophical end to this beautiful conversation? Of course, whatever that makes you feel comfortable. At the end of the day, fashion is self-expression. So it really defines your identity, who you are, whether in real life or virtual world. So whatever you wear is your identity. So today I wear a physical garment, which is just a black T shirt and blue jean, because that is whom I like to be seen as in the real world. And in the virtual world, if I want to wear, like, a pink outfit with clouds all around me, that's how I want to be in the virtual world. So, yeah, I guess I hope this helps. The answer lovely.

58:56

Nadja

That's a new level of freedom. And I think we are just at a beautiful place in society's evolution where we are able to experiment with these kind of concepts in such an easy way. I mean, really, just switch on your computer and there you go, you're wearing a pink dress with clouds around you. Now that brings us, unfortunately, to the end of today's show Subham. I look forward, like I can't even tell you, to seeing you around the digital world specifically because I think you are going to look absolutely fabulous every time I see you. But please warn me in advance because I should also dress up extra sparkly so you don't catch me with my PJs on. How can listeners stay up to date with what you guys are up to?

59:39

Subham

Well, I actually just made a post about this on LinkedIn today and my answer was again LinkedIn. So it was like, okay, I mean, kind of different to the question, but it was like, how do you generally stay updated with all the Web3 and the fashion news that's happening? There's so many things happening, so I just follow the right people. I just follow whom I feel like give the best news. And there are many good people on LinkedIn, not on Twitter, but on LinkedIn. That post, really good content that talk about the best of the best, collaboration, news, tech developments happening. And I just made a LinkedIn post about it today. The people that whom I follow and who appear on my feed the most, so that's the place. And of course, anything about XRCouture, you can follow my personal account on LinkedIn. That's where I'm most active on Twitter, not really.

Subham

Not really. It's only where there are spaces happening such as these, and of course the XRCouture pages all across wherever you're comfortable. Either Discord, Twitter, Instagram, we just make sure that we post content and translate our ideas on all of these social media platforms.

Nadja

I love that you're giving a shout out to LinkedIn because that's also where I get most of my news. It used to be Facebook and now definitely, even as uncool as I am, even I can't find my news there anymore. And Twitter can be a bit much at times. So LinkedIn is like that midway point where it's not too much, it's not too little, it's just right, I guess. Especially, as you say, if you follow the right people. So to our lovely audience, thank you guys so much for tuning in. It is always an absolute privilege to have you spend an hour out of your week with us and we will catch you again next week for another episode of The Future of NFTs, brought to you by AdLunam. But in the meantime, go dress yourself up in the Metaverse and send us your virtual photos.

Nadja

Cheers guys. And Subham, thank you so much. Looking forward to what's coming next.

Subham

Thank you so much. The past 1 hour was like it just flew for me and it was beautiful. One of the best conversations I've ever had. Thank you so much for having me here tonight.

Nadja

Likewise. I look forward to speaking to you again. Cheers everyone.