Balmain forms global partnership with MintNFT

By

Jennifer Braun

Published
May 13, 2022

Balmain announced on Thursday a long-term global partnership with MintNFT to create Balmain’s series of NFT offerings.

As part of upcoming celebrations at the Balmain’s Madison Avenue boutique — celebrating the opening of the house’s Upper East Side location, as well as Olivier Rousteing’s first visit to New York since the beginning of the pandemic — Balmain will introduce the Balmain Non-Fungible Thread (NFT), which includes a unique, constantly evolving series of NFT offerings. 

Each future Balmain Non-Fungible Thread launch will be directly inspired by Rousteing’s decade-long thread of creations, with the house’s NFTs forming key components of future Balmain accessory, sneaker and fashion celebrations, combining both physical and digital. It also plans to offer a range of possible membership benefits to all 'Balmain Army' recruits.

“I’ve never aimed to simply be cool,” said Balmain creative director Olivier Rousteing. “Instead, my goal has always been to ensure that this house’s designs are timeless. To do that, a designer needs to create collections that are tied together by a unifying thread. And it’s important to never break that thread—because the moment that happens... well, it means that you’ve failed. It means that you haven’t been able to extend a clear vision and advance a distinct aesthetic.”

To get there, Balmain has again partnered with MintNFT, co-founded by tech and entertainment innovators James Sun and Teddy Zee. Balmain and MintNFT previously partnered on unique NFTs, including those tied to Rousteing’s recent designs for Mattel's Barbie. Meanwhile, Ripple was selected as the carbon-neutral blockchain partner. 

“To develop a truly innovative Web 3 strategy, it’d be hard to think of a better set of partners than MintNFT and Ripple,” added Balmain CEO Jean-Jacques Guével. “We’re excited to work closely with them to create Balmain’s space in the metaverse—and to work on a host of singular and exciting projects in the future.”