US’s Highstreet and Jonathan Koon transform retail shopping into metaverse

Jonathan Koon, entrepreneur and founder of Mostly Heard Rarely Seen 8-Bit, has teamed up with US-based Highstreet, the retail-focused web3 metaverse, to launch a one-of-a-kind experience that uses the traditional fashion retail experience to transport shoppers into the metaverse. Mostly Heard Rarely Seen 8-Bit is a lifestyle brand for a modern-day tech kid.

This partnership between Highstreet and Jonathan Koon will act as a bridge to guide the crypto-unfamiliar customer base of leading fashion retailers into the web3 metaverse. Every Mostly Heard Rarely Seen 8-Bit physical garment in its latest collection is embedded with a redeemable NFT. To redeem the NFT, Highstreet infused a key into every 8-Bit garment in this drop via a QR code sewn into the garment. By scanning this code, the user is taken through a few steps that will digitally clone the shopper along with their purchased 8-Bit apparel into the Highstreet metaverse, it said in a release.

Once in Highstreet, users will be granted $HIGH tokens, the native currency of the Highstreet metaverse, so they can start to explore the exclusive experiences in the digital world. Shoppers can also establish a permanent record of their ownership of this drop by minting their apparel into NFT’s, establishing a provenance and giving access to resale markets in the digital world from OpenSea to LooksRare.

The 8-Bit ‘phygital’ experience will launch at department stores and designer boutiques worldwide such as Sak’s 5th Ave, Neiman Marcus, Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, Beymen, and more, which will all carry the line in stores and via e-commerce. 

“Just like how Supreme is a lifestyle brand that represents the perspective of a skateboarder from downtown New York; 8-Bit is a lifestyle brand that represents the perspective of a modern day tech kid,” Koon said.

“With this launch, we aim to welcome more traditional, non-blockchain consumers to the web3 world. To allow consumers to experience the energy and new possibilities in web3 culture, without needing to already possess the complex knowledge of navigating web3 tech. Today, department stores around the world become the key that opens the doors to the Highstreet metaverse. Every step of the process is based on something we all already do: buying physical products we already love,” Jenny Guo, co-founder of Highstreet, said.