Sexy Aussie swim label IIXIIST’s play for $34 billion NFT market

Worn by Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner, a Queensland-born swimwear brand has entered the lucrative NFT marketplace, which is worth billions.

Exclusive: A multimillion-dollar Australian fashion brand worn by Kim Kardashian and Hailey Bieber has entered the lucrative NFT marketplace.

Following in the footsteps of global conglomerates Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Balenciaga, IIXIIST – the Gold Coast-based swimwear label owned by Rebecca Klodinsky – has launched nine nonfungible tokens, priced from $18,000 to $28,000 on NFT marketplace, OpenSea.

It is believed IIXIIST, which has a reported annual turnover of $7 million, is one of the first Australian fashion brands to launch NFTs.

IIXIIST has launched an NFT of this bikini, once worn by Kim Kardashian, from its 2016 collection archives.

Shot in Bondi, this NFT has been released by IIXIIST founder Rebecca Klodinsky on OpenSea.

NFTs are digital collectables described as “cryptographic tokens which are stored in a blockchain (digital platform)”.

“The NFTs that we have released are limited and tokens that attributed to the brand’s success – bikinis that went viral, that grew the brand, Kylie Jenner’s bikini, Rihanna’s bikini, Kim K’s bikini,” Ms Klodinsky said.
“It’s a slice of the brand that’s exiting the physical world into this Metaverse.”

She likened her NFTs – shot in Bondi, based on the brand’s archives and titled “Swim of 2016 – to digital artwork.

“Before I knew what NFTs were, this whole Metaverse, you’d think of it just as artwork, as a collectable piece of art, in its most simplest form,” Ms Klodinsky said. “It is not something physical that you would hang on a wall, unless you’re printing it off.

Kim Kardashian wearing IIXIIST bikini in 2019. Picture: Splash

“For IIXIIST, we want to still remain ‘mortal’ but doing this is a sentiment towards a time before the digital era.”
Ms Klodinsky said NFTs would, in theory, appreciate in value. “Depending on who you are as a purchaser, you’d either buy it to wait for it to appreciate, or you’d buy it because you love it – case in point, Em Rata.”

Rebecca Klodinsky, founder of Australian bikini label IIXIIST which has launched NFTs. Picture: Supplied

She is referring to Emily Ratajkowski’s NFT, titled “Buying Myself Back: A Model for Redistribution”, in which the model is shown standing in front of a Sports Illustrated photo of herself.

Ratajkowski’s NFT sold for $US175,000 ($A243,000), per the Los Angeles Times. “In carving its presence on the immutable, universal Ethereum blockchain ledger, the NFT facilitates Ratajkowski’s message in a way that breaks new ground for feminist art history and practice,” a statement about Ratajkowski’s NFT said, per the Times.

Emily Ratajkowski’s landmark “Buying Myself Back: A Model for Redistribution” NFT. Picture: Emily Ratajkowski/Christie’s Images Ltd. 2021

A Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs on Open Sea. Picture: Supplied

Twitter founder Jack Dorsey sold his first tweet as an NFT, which stated “just setting up my twttr”, for $US2.9 million ($A4 million).

Gucci launched NFTs co-designed by its head of design, Alessandro Michele, and fashion chain Pretty Little Thing entered the lucrative market by partnering with NFT powerhouse, Bored Ape Yacht Club.

Justin Bieber has purchased at least two Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs.

A Balenciaga NFT available on OpenSea. Picture: Supplied

Justin Bieber famously purchased a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT for $US1.3 million ($A1.8 million), and a second from the same brand for $US470,000 ($A653,000).

Globally, the trade volume of NFTs was $US24.9 billion ($A34 billion) last year, per DappRadar, which was up from $US95 million ($A132 million) in 2020.

Pavel Kireyev and Peter C. Evans, in The Harvard Business Review, stated that NFTs were “growing into a major industry” as it “enables anyone to monetise digital content” and were “now rapidly entering the mainstream”.

Originally published as Sexy Aussie swim label IIXIIST’s play for $34 billion NFT market