DRAUP, a digital fashion platform by Dani Loftus, is set to launch on April 25th, and we have exclusive visuals to show you what it’s all about. Backed by Variant Fund, Flamingo DAO, Ian Rogers, GMoney, Cozomo de’ Medici, Trevor McFedries, and others, DRAUP aims to expand the creative and technological bounds of digital fashion.
The platform will release each collection under its in-house brand in collaboration with pioneering artists. For its inaugural collection, DRAUP is partnering with Nicolas Sassoon, who has previously worked with Uniqlo and Balenciaga. Called #00: Seen On Screen, the collection takes moiré patterns as its subject, an optical phenomenon of a wavy or watered appearance originating in textiles but most commonly seen on screens.
The vision behind DRAUP is that “code is the couture,” and each digital fashion drop is created using generative algorithms, which are code-based systems that determine elements in a creative process. In DRAUP’s case, a generative algorithm determines the cut, colour, material, and patterns of the garments. The aim is to promote the perception of digital fashion not just as wearable garments but as collectible art.
Sassoon’s work, which spans fine art, fashion, and film, investigates the visual language of early computer graphics. His works have been exhibited in the Whitney Museum of American Art and MoCDA. Taking Sassoon’s 15-year exploration of pixels as materials, the Seen On Screen collection uses multiple layers to define the cut, the material, the moiré print, and the colour of each individual garment, resulting in entirely new, dynamic experiences of the pixelated patterns in digital garments.
DRAUP provides a collector space where you can see the garments in their highest quality and interact with them as 3D digital sculptures. The inaugural drop consists of 648 generative pieces across five garment types, and the sale takes place in three tiers. First, The Hero Piece Private Sale, a short-form curation of eight items available to SEAL holders and Nicholas Sassoon 1/1 collectors. Next is The Main Collection, a long-form generative collection available to DRAUP Discord INSIDERS and 9dcc, Admit One, Ledger, and SYKY communities. Finally, The Open Edition, where those who have signed up via the public allowlist can claim a token-gated wearable based on Sassoon’s previous work, Waterfalls.
DRAUP’s launch enables a revolutionary new vision of fashion where couture’s creative concepts are aligned with crypto’s digital principles, showcasing that code can be just as luxurious as couture. “We believe that couture finds its natural evolution in generative digital fashion: as both are based on the principle of creating a unique item tied together with a wider brand (or in our case an algorithmic thread),” shares Loftus.
By using generative algorithms to create each drop and partnering with pioneering artists, DRAUP sets the stage for a whole new era of fashion. The Seen On Screen collection is a testament to the platform’s innovative approach to digital fashion, and we can’t wait to see what else they have in store.