The Sirens Call | September 22

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Colorado 🤝 Crypto

The state of Colorado will now allow residents to pay state taxes with cryptocurrency. They will partner with PayPal to handle transactions, and are saying service fees will be lower than paying for taxes with a credit card. Not the sexiest piece of news we’ve reported on, but it’s a big moment for crypto!

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Metabirkin Metaproblems 👜

In December of 2021, artist Mason Rothschild dropped an NFT collection of 100 Metabirkins. The bags were fully lined with fur, and came in an array of colors. The concept behind the collection was to raise awareness of animal-free luxury fashion items, as the bags had a familiar animal-cruel look with leather and fur, but were completely cruelty-free because they are digital. The collection was a big hit, with one selling for $47,000, or 10 ETH at the time. Fast forward to January of 2022, Hermes began a lawsuit claiming trademark infringement. 

Rothschild has defended his work, saying the First Amendment gives him the right to use the Birkin bag as a part of his artistic expression. He is using digital art to depict a Birkin bag that doesn’t exist in the real world, and never will. He cites Andy Worhol’s use of the Campbell’s Soup can in his famous paintings in 1968. Warhol’s work was not trying to pass off as the real soup cans, but using the imagery in his artistic expression.

While the lawsuit is still up in the air, Hermès filed for a crypto, NFT and Metaverse trademark a few weeks ago. The trademark will allow the company “retail store services featuring virtual goods,” as well as fashion and trade shows in “online virtual, augmented or mixed reality environments,” and “an online marketplace for buyers and sellers of virtual goods.” The chairman of the executive board of Hermès, Alex Dumas, has said that the company is “...curious and interested in the Metaverse.” They are joined by their luxury fashion peers Tiffany & Co, and Dolce and Gabbana among others, in their venture into the Web3 fashion world. 

Women in Web3 👩🏻‍💻

Yam Karkai is an artist, founder and activist, trailblazing the Web3 space for women. She originally got into NFT’s when she was working as a freelance digital artist, and decided to try out the NFT world where she would have more control and ownership over her work. She launched her first NFT collection, Women by Yam, a series of hand drawn images of women in unique colors. The collection sold out, and sold again for significant prices in the secondary market. 

Coming off the momentum of this amazing project, Karkai launched World of Women in July 2021. Her hope was to create a diverse and inclusive community of women that would encourage more women to get involved in the NFT space. In an interview with NFTevening, Karkai says, “I launched the collection at a time where I really felt like a change was needed in this space… At the time, the collectible projects that were booming were clearly directed for the male public, and there was nothing there for women to feel related to.” She was set on creating a place for women in the male-dominated NFT space, and she certainly succeeded. World of Women features 10,000 randomly generated NFTs, in the form of bright and diverse images of women. 

The ethos of WoW has not been lost in its whirlwind of success. 15% of primary sales are reinvested in cryptoart in an effort to lift up the community and the artists that define it. 2.5% of primary sales are donated to 3 causes that benefit women: She’s the First, Too Young to Wed, and Strange Cintia.  

It’s inspiring to see that every woman in the Web3 space we have profiled in this section are shaping their careers around  the goal of lifting up other women and creators in the industry. It’s true that in Web3, the success of one doesn’t have to mean the loss of others. Women like Yam Karkai are building the foundation for the women that follow them to continue this ethos of inclusivity and altruism.

at the movies 🎥

The Woman King is out in theaters right now and it’s an epic spectacle you’ll want to see on a big screen. It tells the story of an all-female army called the Agojie Warriors of the Dahomey Kingdom in West Africa. The women train viciously and take a vow to devote their lives to their fellow warriors. The best part? It’s based on a true story. You have probably heard of the Agojie Warriors referred to as the “amazon warriors.” This all-female army protected the Dahomey Kingdom centuries ago, and history confirms they were a force to be reckoned with. The cast is led by the incredible Viola Davis, and the supporting roles are taken on by actresses that are up and coming. We’ll soon be seeing more of Lashana Lynch, Thuso Mbedu and Sheila Atim. 

Avatar is back! The 2009 film is being shown in theaters for the next few weeks, to refresh our minds before they are blown by the second installment of the franchise, Avatar: The Way of the Water on Dec 16th of this year. This sequel is coming out 13 years after the first film, so it’ll be interesting to see if audiences can get into James Cameron’s blue humanoids of Pandora again. 

no cruelty here! 🐰

Sometimes figuring out a company’s stance on animal testing can be confusing, but it’s so important to know which ones are cruelty free. The Cruelty Free Kitty website makes it easy to search for brands and get a straight answer on whether or not animals were harmed in the making of their products. It’s also an amazing place to discover new vegan and cruelty-free brands! Just bookmark this to have it on hand the next time you go to Sephora and you’ll be covered.

Thanks for reading!-Juliette