AKU ANNOUNCES THE LAUNCH OF AKUTARS WITH LEGENDARY FASHION AND STREETWEAR COLLABORATORS

The first Akutar collection will launch with a superstar lineup of luxury fashion, sports and streetwear veterans including Billionaire Boys Club, ICECREAM, Paper Planes, PUMA, Upscale Vandal and WHO DECIDES WAR

NEW YORK, April 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Aku, the cryptonative NFT character created by artist Micah Johnson, announces the highly anticipated launch of Akutars, a collection of 15,000 unique, 3D avatars launching on the Ethereum blockchain.

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The first Akutar collection will launch on April 22, 2022 on aku.world with an all-star lineup of legendary fashion and streetwear collaborators, including:

• Billionaire Boys Club - the globally recognized clothing, accessories, and lifestyle brand, founded by Pharrell Williams and Nigo in 2003, whose blend of streetwear and luxury has influenced countless pockets of fashion, music, design, and culture
• ICECREAM - the global skateboard lifestyle apparel and accessories brand founded by Pharrell Williams in 2004 that champions diversity within the skateboarding community
• Paper Planes - Roc Nation's apparel brand and streetwear label that combines street fashion, music, and design
• PUMA - one of the world's leading sports brands, designing, developing, selling, and marketing footwear, apparel, and accessories
• Upscale Vandal - pioneering luxury fashion and streetwear creative and expert Michael Camargo
• WHO DECIDES WAR - NYC-based contemporary luxury label by Ev Bravado and Téla D'Amore

Each collaborator will create unique, handcrafted one-of-one Akutar designs within the 15,000 3D avatar collection, and particular elements from those designs will also randomly appear throughout the collection on other Akutars. The highly covetable and first-of-its-kind collection of Akutars celebrates the pioneers of luxury fashion and streetwear culture alongside the next generation of creators, and appeals to a wide ranging audience across multiple generations.

Akutars will grant holders entry into the ever-expanding Akuverse, where lines are blurred between the digital and physical worlds. Akutar owners will gain exclusive access to culture-defining experiences, products, and collaborations.

Akutars will offer an airdrop of free Akutars to existing Aku community members who own one or more Aku Chapters and other Aku-related NFTs. Aku Chapter holders will receive at least 1 Akutar, with additional access to exclusive rare traits available only to holders of multiple Chapters. Owning multiple unique sets will result in multiple sets of rewards.

In just over two years after making his debut in the digital art space, Johnson, a former major league baseball player, has amassed a dedicated community and his NFT character Aku has been optioned for TV and film projects, the first NFT deal of its kind.

"Akutars are the next step in Aku's journey and evolving Akuverse," said Micah Johnson, artist and creator of Aku. "Akutars will give our community, creators and collectors the opportunity to further express themselves creatively alongside iconic, culture-defining brands."

Aku advisors and founding creative council members Pusha-T and Upscale Vandal worked closely with Johnson and team to curate the first group of collaborators for the first Akutar collection.

Pusha-T said, "Aku is the first and only one making art and building a community at the highest level of fashion and culture. The first Akutar lineup is a family affair of Black creatives coming together to take the Akuverse to the next level."

Summer Watson, President of WYE Media Company, home of Aku, said, "I'm extremely proud of the collaborators we've brought on board to launch Akutars in a way that no one has done before. Our team and extended family of creators and visionaries is possibly one of the most diverse in the game, and that's no accident - diversity is easy when you start with Black founders doing things our way and supported by a community as incredible as ours. Together we are building a community and movement bigger than any box someone might assume we're working in - we are real people working together to make art that tells meaningful stories and drives conversation in the crypto space and way beyond."

Adam Petrick, Chief Brand Officer of PUMA said, "We're thrilled to partner with Aku on this exciting project which is not only pushing both fashion and streetwear culture forward but is also deeply tied to community and diverse representation - something that is extremely important to our brand."

Aku began as a NFT series based on Johnson's own experience of hearing a young boy ask if astronauts could be Black. The NFTs are short video clips that follow Aku, a young boy with an oversized space helmet that acts as a portal to his dreams and digital exploration. The 10-part series was released in 10 chapters from February 2021 - February 2022 and has generated over $24MM in sales to date.

The first Akutar collection will be previewed on Aku's social media channels in the coming weeks. Akutars will launch on April 22, 2022 at aku.world.

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Aku is a digital explorer and crypto-native IP created by artist and former MLB player, Micah Johnson. Launched in February 2021, Aku has since become the first NFT to be optioned for film and television projects, as well as the first NFT to travel to space. Aku is a conduit to empower the next generation of astronauts, explorers, and dreamers. Aku has been named to Fast Company's prestigious annual list of the World's Most Innovative Companies for 2022. Follow on IG, Twitter, and join the Discord community for updates. For FAQ and more information, visit aku.world/akuverse.

Micah Johnson is the creator of Aku. After hearing a young boy ask his mom if astronauts could be Black, Micah released an NFT of a 3D animation depicting a boy with an oversized astronaut helmet. In less than one year, that NFT took Micah from a retired athlete to "2020 NFT of the Year" and the first creator to have an NFT optioned for a major feature film. Named one of the "Top 50 Most Influential People in NFTs" by Fortune, Micah's foresight and belief in the web3 communities to evangelize IP has resulted in over $24MM in sales volume for Aku to date.

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