Collectible Corner: World of Women
How a collectible project inspired a wave of women to join and participate in the NFT scene.
Paving the way for women in the NFT scene, The World of Women collection is seeing major success, and receiving support from some of the biggest names in the community. With a passion for empowerment and inclusion, Yam and Raph are bringing representativity and diversity into the NFT space. But who are they, where did the collection come from and what is their message? Find out in this exclusive interview below!
It is no secret that the NFT space is largely male-dominated, with very few women within the top bracket of successful influencers or artists. Yam addressed this dominant representation and decided to create her own NFT collection with women, confidence, and success at the forefront of her message. This collection goes further than any other mainstream collectible project, actively giving women a voice in this domain!
Just recently, the WoW project donated over $50,000 dollars to the Rock Flower fund charity in a 1/1 art auction. From creating art on a small scale to instigating huge bidding wars for charities close to their heart, Yam recalled this as one of the craziest moments in her life! With Gary Vee dropping a last-minute bid, the auction received widespread attention, while further highlighting the lengths to which the project has grown! They have also donated to a number of other charities with the mission to support girls, their education, and women's entrepreneurship.
In addition to the support of women, the WoW project has established a creators club fund whereby each month, holders of the token are able to vote for an artist, and their art is then bought through the fund. This helps to bring a sense of community participation and development, while at the same time giving back to the creators themselves, another admirable project! This is key for the space whereby artists that would often go unnoticed, are provided the opportunity to showcase their work to the masses.
The World of Women project is here for the long run, with a close-knit and core team made up of friends of Yam and Raph, as well as big influencers that passionately believe in the project, there are no limits for their success! The team is also hoping to curate a brand that can reach out to the mainstream public, as well as the NFT world. Meanwhile, holders of the project are enjoying the experience, mirroring their own selves alongside their World of Woman collectible, illustrating their similarities and traits! It is clear that the collection is deeply resonating with the community and capturing the attention of collectors, artists, and influencers alike! Most importantly, it is driving women into the scene and sending out a message to the NFT world- women are here to stay!
A quote that captures the essence of the project was mentioned by Yam herself a number of weeks back, she stated that ‘Women have the strength and courage to be, do, and make anything they set their minds to’. This quote reinforces the importance of belief, and confidence amongst women. Yam and the team are succeeding in inspiring a whole generation of women and encouraging active participation in the NFT community. As of recent, this area of expansion has been minimal, however, the introduction of the WoW project has seen a new wave of women entering the scene, propelling the NFT community to new heights! Closing in on 15,000 followers, we should expect to see the project reach even greater heights in the very near future.
Read on below to find out who is behind the collection, their inspirations, and information regarding their roadmap!
Yam Karkai and Raphaël Malavieille are the co-founders of the project from the Middle East and France. How did they both meet, what are their backgrounds and how did they curate the vision for the project?
We met in Paris in a party and have been together ever since (Yes we are a couple!). Raph is an engineer coming from the automotive industry and then tech industry, he is passionate about gaming and newtechnologies. Me, Yam, I’m a digital illustrator with a background in translation and cinematography amongst other things, with a love for the arts and innovation.
More than $50,000 (18.555 eth) was raised in auction for woman n°017 going to the charity rock flower fund. Why did you decide to choose them and what is the significance of their charity?
RockFlower partners with community based organizations to provide innovative and entrepreneurial approaches to empower women in developing countries around the globe. We found their mission to be extremely important for our societies in order to improve the lives of women. The current social and economical systems around the world do not serve the vast majority of humanity, especially affecting those living on the edges of society whom are mostly women and girls.
The project word of women has deeply resonated with the NFT world, successfully bringing women together across the entire scene. Did you expect to receive such widespread support prior to starting?
One of the key reasons why World of Women was created on the first place was to bring more women into the NFT space through a project that makes them feel welcomed, heard and represented. The fact that I see this community coming together and women standing up for each other and themselves in this space is incredible and I hope it just keeps going and making an impact.
You spotlighted diversity and women in your collection, both of which are the focal point of your brand. Can you outline why both of these areas are important to represent?
These areas are important because women in society are always treated as less than a man to some degree, especially women of color. We already have to go through that on a daily basis, in almost every field of work. The NFT space is new, it is exciting and full of possibilities, but most importantly it's in its early stages, which means that now is the time to make a change and switch the direction of things in order to make it a fair, equal and inclusive space for women in the long run. It’s time to avoid having another innovative tech field be completely male-dominated.
As well as supporting charity, you are offering artists the opportunity to grow through bidding on their work. Do you have any favourite artists or styles that you gravitate towards to or wish to share?
When we bid on artists works we don’t have any style in mind at all, we are looking for individuals that are creative, passionate, active in the community and who’s work we connect with and appreciate.
How did you design the avatars and what is the story behind the creative process?
I started by sketching the base Woman for the project on Procreate, once I had figured it out, I started sketching hairstyles, outfits, accessories and so on. Refining the sketches and filtering which ones would go to the next stage, playing around with colours and ideas. Then the sketches moved to Adobe illustrator where I got to do all the heavy work of outlines, colouring, gradients, textures, clipping masks, details etc. I got very inspired by things that I love, some elements from my personal life and some from my favourite movies, characters I love, music and history.
From Pranksy to Garry Vaynerchuck, and even Logan Paul, your project has been admired by some of the biggest influencers in the community, what would you say to anyone who has not yet heard about World of Women?
I would say : Come join the WoW family! We are a tight and amazing community with a mission! I would also say that by supporting World of Women you are helping create more representativity and diversity in the NFT space, you are supporting charitable causes that are changing women and girls’s lives around the world, you are supporting up and coming NFT artists that are incredibly talented, you are supporting women that love tech and want to have a voice in this domain and you are helping make this space move forward into a more inclusive environment.
What plans for the future do you have for the World of Women project and where do you see it in a years time?
We don’t like speculating about things that are not happening or haven’t happened yet. The NFT world moves and changes extremely fast and looking into the future several years objectively is simply impossible, which in my opinion, is actually quite exciting. What I can say for sure is that we are working into making WoW an established brand, not only in the NFT space but also in the “real" world in order to bring more eyes and value to the project and the space.
Hey there friends, we meet again! How did you enjoy this read? I hope you are all feeling empowered, and confident to take on the NFT world. As Yam has demonstrated with her WoW project, anything is possible, and it is so important to believe in yourself! Tune in for next week’s article and head over to my Twitter @NFT1nsight to let me know who you would like to see next!