KEY POINTS
Italian fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana finds itself entangled in a legal battle as one of its clients, Luke Brown, filed a lawsuit alleging significant losses in the value of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) purchased from the company.
According to Bloomberg’s report, Brown invested over $6,000 in NFT outfits designed for the metaverse, only to witness a staggering decline of over 97% in their value. The lawsuit represents a larger group of individuals who participated in the NFT project.
Dolce & Gabbana introduced its DGFamily Box NFTs back in 2022, which promised “exclusive digital, physical, and experiential perks” for holders. These boxes, available in Black, Gold, and Platinum editions, were priced at 1.2 ETH each, approximately $3,600 at the time.
Purchasers were promised digital and physical drops of Dolce&Gabbana apparel, access to metaverse events, and additional bonuses.
However, according to Brown’s claims, delivery delays significantly undermined the value of the NFTs. Outfit NFTs arrived 20 days behind schedule and were restricted to a metaverse platform with just a few users. Moreover, it took an additional 11 days before these items could be used due to delays in obtaining necessary approvals from the platform.
This legal tussle adds to a growing list of disputes within the NFT space. Logan Paul encountered similar challenges with his CryptoZoo project, where NFTs were sold with the promise of a game that never materialized. Paul responded by pledging $2.3 million to repurchase NFTs.
In a separate incident last November 2023, Aurelien Michel, the creator of the Mutant Ape Planet NFT collection, pleaded guilty to defrauding investors of $3 million in a rug-pull scam. Michel faces a potential prison sentence of up to five years and a forfeiture of $1.4 million.
