PUMA Unveils Metaverse Experience with NFTs at NYFW

Sportswear brand PUMA unveils its first-ever metaverse experience, called ‘Black Station’ during the New York Fashion Week (NYFW). The Black Station features exclusive NFTs with limited edition redeemable physical sneakers as part of its ‘FUTROGRADE’ show.

PUMA Black Station offers an interactive and immersive space to experience the future of the brand. As an ever-evolving 3D canvas, Black Station will become a dynamic destination to visit for providing customers with various Web 3.0 experiences in the days ahead.

The Black Station metaverse is created by venture company FTR. The metaverse is designed with Unreal Engine 5 to produce cutting-edge graphics.

PUMA’s chief brand officer stated that, twenty years ago, Black Station was Puma’s home for the most innovative designs in fashion. Now, the company wants to bring Black Station back as a new portal for digital exploration across fashion, sports, heritage classics and innovation.

This metaverse experience begins with visitors entering a hyper-realistic digital lobby space with three separate portals. The first two portals feature exclusive Nitro NFRNO and Nitro Fastroid sneakers tied to PUMA’s recent NFT Nitropass mint.

Those who minted a Nitropass can get two NFTs —one linked to physical products and the other that unlocks a custom experience related to their chosen sneakers. Following the Futrograde show, minters can burn their collected NFT to claim their physical sneakers.

This initiative marks the brand’s strides in the Web 3.0 space, establishing its first Puma-owned NFT that also links digital design with physical products for consumers.

The third portal of Black Station serves as the entry to the digital NYFW metaverse show. Through this immersive metaverse, visitors can interact with the collection’s pieces.

While PUMA has just stepped into the NFT space, its rival Nike became the world’s highest-earning brand from sales of NFT. With revenue of a stunning $185.32 million, the NFT business has proved to be lucrative for Nike. In recent months, several sports and fashion brands have begun racing to benefit from metaverse and NFTs.