Airwalk Talks NFTz.Studio and the SHOEz NFT Project

When I caught up with Airwalk ahead of his ONE37pm POAP this week, he hit me with this line: "People are gonna want to wear wicked stuff in the meta verse." I don't think anything could really capture the ethos behind the SHOEz project better. That's how Airwalk came up with the idea to produce a sneaker-based NFT collection, opting to call it "SHOEz" to encapsulate all of us, rather than just sneakerheads. The project drops today at 4pm EST, coinciding with a Twitter space we'll be hosting at 3pm EST to learn more about the project and reveal how to get the POAP of the day.

Airwalk is the founder of NFTz.Studio, and the SHOEz NFT marks the genesis drop for the burgeoning studio. NFTz.Studio is to SHOEz what Yuga Labs is to BAYC.

When you join the NFTz Studio discord, you walk through a seven step process of verification, with each step revealing more information about the brand and the genesis drop. It's one of the most unique and interesting onboarding mechanics I've seen to date. The bio from the Discord reads: "NFTz Studio Inc. is an assemblage of passionate, kind, and genuine human beings with a shared desire to bring like minded people together through Art, NFTs, Web3, and DeFi to make the world a more beautiful place to live, work, and play."

On the choice to refer to the tokens as "shoes" rather than "sneakers," Airwalk tells me, "I’m not a sneaker head, but I love sneaker head culture," adding, "I’m the 95% of the world that likes shoes." By using the terminology that's inclusive of all footwear, the drop is appealing to everyone who will need to wear shoes in the metaverse, i.e., everyone.

The shoes themselves were designed by lead artist Lara Pintaric, with contributions from a roster of other designers.

As far as plans go for SHOEz and the studio, there's a lot to get excited for. First up is the NFT event they're planning to hold in Banff, Alberta in April of 2022. Every buyer of a SHOEz token has a 95% chance of receiving a GA ticket to the event, with 5% of collectors getting a VIP access pass.

As a BAYC holder (one of Airwalk's apes has been repurposed as the studio's own ape), Airwalk and the studio also have plans for collaborations with the iconic avatar collection. One such proposed plan will allow genesis SHOEz holders to get a left shoe and BAYC holders (or other blue chip project holders) to receive a right shoe, and then if they trade to get the pair, they'll have the option to burn the pair to get a special 3D token—that may or may not end up coming with real life wearables down the line.

And then of course we gotta talk metaverse. They're working with House of Kibaa, the digital studio known for its work with Gutter Cat gang (among others) to create two unique metaverse experiences. One will be a virtual shoes store to shop around in, and then they'll also launch a more play-oriented space with a basketball court and other areas to test your kicks out.

Essentially, by minting a SHOEz token, holders will become lifetime members of the NFTz.Studio. Buyers will have access to a variety of airdrops, mint passes for future drops, presale access to keystone projects, 3D assets and wearables for the metaverse and more.

Hop into our Twitter space at 3pm EST today to learn more about the project and how to get today's POAP.