Last spring, At an event in New York City, Robert Triefus, then Gucci’s CEO of Vault—the brand’s virtual marketplace—argued the recent deflation in hype around the metaverse was just a brief hiccup. “I see it more as a correction,” he told the crowd. “We’re now at a much more sensible place, where you’ve got individuals [and] companies … who are very serious about what they’re doing.” When asked how buying real estate in The Sandbox aligned with Gucci’s broader goals as a brand, he responded with quasi-mystical language: “The metaverse is an opportunity to embrace the digital self.”
The following month, Triefus left Gucci “abruptly,” according to Vogue Business. He
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