The company sold non-fungible tokens that were promoted as “a slate of digital, physical and experiential benefits” and could be bought and sold on the Ethereum cryptocurrency blockchain, according to the complaint. Dolce & Gabbana allegedly told consumers that buying the DGFamily NFTs would grant them access to various digital rewards, physical products and exclusive events.

But the delivery of the NFTs was late, along with special benefits customers were promised, according to the complaint filed Thursday in Manhattan federal court. Digital outfits that showed up 20 days behind schedule “could be used only in a metaverse platform with barely any users”, according to the complaint.

Even after the digital outfits were released, token holders still couldn’t actually use them for another 11 days because Dolce & Gabbana hadn’t got approval from the metaverse platform ahead of time, according to the complaint. 

“Their standard operating procedure has been to promise products they fail to deliver, before abandoning a project and community they promised to support,” attorneys wrote in the complaint.

Luke Brown, who filed the suit, says he lost $5,800 on the NFTs he bought. Brown brought the case on behalf of a proposed class of people who bought digital assets from the NFT project. 

The complaint also names the NFT marketplace UNXD as a defendant. Dolce & Gabbana and UNXD didn’t immediately respond outside regular business hours to requests for comment.