Ellen von Unwerth Gives Supermodels the NFT treatment

Three iconic supermodels are being immortalised in the form of non-fungible tokens by Cyrptograph, a celebrity digital auction house. The Supermodel Series contains five photographs taken by Ellen von Unwerth in the 1990s.

Credit: RUSSH

German photographer Ellen von Unwerth is well known for her provocative portraits of female pop stars and models. Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Adriana Lima, and Rihanna are amongst celebrities she’s photographed over the course of her career.

Von Unwerth is making her foray into the world of digital art in an upcoming auction of iconic ‘90s photography. The photographer reimagines three supermodels, Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss. The resulting NFT clips are both haunting and nostalgic.

Celebrity NFT platform Cryptograph is offering the “Supermodel Series,” as the first of multiple five-photo collections captured by von Unwerth. The exclusive series consists of three iconic women, dubbed the queens of the ’90s, who coined the word supermodel. These are the women who shaped the fashion industry forever.

Von Unwerth’s photographs come to life as NFT’s, providing a contemporary update to her classic ‘90s photography. The iconic female photographer tells RUSSH that she is “so excited” to launch the project with “three of my favourite icons”.

Reimagined Images

Credit: RUSSH

The image of Schiffer from ‘98 is from a now-famous Guess campaign. The model sports a one-piece bathing suit, a choker and a cowboy hat, reimagined with glistening water surrounding her. Another shot shows Schiffer with a perfectly tousled up-do.

In a ’95 image of Kate Moss, she slouches in a movie theatre chair, wearing square frame glasses. The animated NFT adds blurry lights moving behind the supermodel and sparkles along the frames of her glasses.

Naomi Campbell features in a ’95 image, wearing Mickey Mouse ears and a ’91 shot of the model looking seductively, holding a corded telephone, with sparkling Coca Cola cans in her hair.

The NFT Game

This is the first drop of the series, with percentages of the proceeds going to UNICEF, Campbell’s Fashion for Relief foundation and Paediatric Home Care Team for Diabetes.  The Supermodel Series can be purchased via Cryptograph and can be purchased using the cryptocurrency Ethereum.

As the NFT game continues to dominate, many of the world’s biggest name celebrities and artists have joined in. Back in May, Kate Moss earned $17,000 from the sale of a pre-recorded video, Sleep With Kate, as an NFT. She went on to donate a percentage of the profits to Adwoa Aboah’s Gurl’s Talk.

Another model who tried out the NFT game earlier in the year is Emily Ratajkowski. The photograph in question is an “Instagram painting” of Ratajkowski from her first Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition appearance.

The Supermodel Series by Ellen von Unwerth NFT goes live on October 21 at 1 p.m. EST. Head to Cryptograph’s website for a preview.

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