Investor Luke Brown filed a class-action lawsuit in federal court in Manhattan, claiming he spent about $6,000 on NFTs from the Italian fashion house. These DGFamily collectible tokens were marketed as a "set of digital, physical, and experimental privileges" that could be traded via the Ethereum network. Dolce & Gabbana assured buyers that purchasing the DGFamily NFTs would grant access to various digital rewards, physical products, and exclusive events.
However, the token release was delayed despite the promised special benefits. The plaintiff claims that the digital clothing sets appeared 20 days later than scheduled and were only available on a metaverse platform with a limited number of users. Even after the digital costumes were released, token holders could not use them for another 11 days because Dolce & Gabbana did not receive timely approval from the metaverse platform.
As a result, these NFTs depreciated by 97%, causing the lead plaintiff to incur a loss of $5,800. UNXD, an NFT trading platform, is also mentioned as a defendant. Brown is seeking compensation for personal damages from the companies and legal protection for other affected investors.
It is worth noting that in 2021, Dolce&Gabbana earned $5.6 million from the sale of Collezione Genesi NFTs on the UNXD platform. Last year, the Italian brand participated in the annual Metaverse Fashion Week (MVFW).
