From Digital Collectibles to Physical Culture: Azuki’s Presence in Paris
Alex Xu (Zagabond), co-founder and CEO of Azuki Labs, reflects on Paris Fashion Week and how fashion, narrative, and long-term world-building shape modern cultural IP.
Paris has always been a place where art, fashion, and storytelling intersect. For Azuki, being present there wasn’t about a single moment or event. It was about placing a digital-native IP into a city that understands how culture is built in the real world.
Azuki began online, but it was never intended to stay there. From the beginning, the goal was to create characters, worlds, and symbols that could move fluidly between mediums, screens, and physical spaces. Paris represents that transition clearly. It’s a global center for fashion and design, but also a city that rewards long-term creative vision over short-term hype.
What stood out most during the Paris experience was the way people engaged with the work. The conversations weren’t about speculation or trends. They were about design language, narrative, and how a modern IP can feel both contemporary and timeless. That kind of engagement is difficult to manufacture, and it reinforced that Azuki’s direction resonates beyond its original digital roots.
For Azuki Labs, Paris was not a finish line. It was a signal that the work is moving into a broader cultural conversation, one that includes physical expression, real-world collaboration, and global audiences who value craft and story as much as technology.