You may have heard about Louis Vuitton collaborating with Riot Games to create original skins for League of Legends, Balenciaga creating digital fashion items that appears in the Fortnite game, Gucci‘s popular Queen Bee Dionysus bag being sold digitally for 350,000 Robux, and not to forget, the world’s first ever Metaverse Fashion Week on Decentraland, where big fashion brands like Dolce & Gabbana, Etro, and Tommy Hilfiger are going to showcase their Fashion NFT collections!
Digital fashion is providing means for millions of people to feel like they’re a part of the elite fashion world, and to explore style in ways that real-world restrictions might not allow. But, how does Digital Fashion work? Why would anyone buy digital clothing? Keep reading to find out.
What is Digital Fashion?
What we wear reveals a lot about our personalities. Fashion is a global industry worth $2.5 trillion that impacts everyone. And technology, globalization, and consumer values transform fashion.
The boom in blockchain technology, the pandemic, and the increase in consumer’s time spent in the Metaverse has given rise to Digital Fashion. A concept of the internet that bridged the gap between two-dimensional and three-dimensional worlds, arose from gaming.
In simple words, Digital fashion is the capacity to dress up and express yourself in a digital format. Digital fashion allows us to have various identities to express ourselves in a virtual world where brands replicate real-life experiences. It has paved a way for the dematerialization of fashion, and will revolutionize the fashion industry as we know it.
NFTs & Digital Fashion: What is the connection?
NFTs are the backbone of the digital fashion industry, and have the potential to become a huge revenue generator for the industry. In layman terms, any digital-wear design is minted as an NFT, and sold on NFT marketplaces. Gamers and Metaverse enthusiasts purchase them to dress up their digital avatars.
NFTs are used in a variety of ways in the fashion industry, from product authentication (Product Passports) to functioning as collectible pieces with ownership rights. Product passports are blockchain connected identities for luxury goods, empowering a new layer of authenticity.
According to a report by BoF Insights, sales of NFTs were $10.7 billion in Q3 2021, more than 8 times the previous quarter’s sales, demonstrating that the hunger for buying and owning digital assets is expanding. As a result, digital fashion providers such as The Fabricant, DressX, and RTFKT are capitalizing on this market.
Additional Read: Top 10 NFT Marketplaces
How Does Digital Fashion In The Metaverse Look like?
1. Shopping Goes Digital With Fashion Marketplace & MetaCloset
NFT marketplaces give digital fashion greater value by allowing Fashion NFTs to be worn on one’s own photos and videos in augmented reality (AR). They also serve as a MetaCloset where users may store their digital fashion outfits. It connects designers, fashion brands, and consumers.
Two new advancements developed in this field are:
- The Dematerialized: An online marketplace where creators can sell their own digital fashion lines. It includes a bespoke fitting tool where a digital tailor dresses your digital avatar. You can then transport it to a game or a metaverse world.
- DRESSX: An up-and-coming platform that not only sells virtual clothing but also provides a wide range of services, from digitizing physical fashion collections to creating digital outfits from scratch. Then minting them as Fashion NFTs, allowing collectors to wear them in augmented reality via their app.
2. Enabling Digital Identity via Digital Fashion:
With the global pandemic, we are increasingly presenting ourselves through virtual screens. Today, the Instagram, Tiktok, and Snapchat version of ourselves matters, thus our digital self-image is also important.
Your digital avatar is an extension of yourself, and allows you to have a fluid identity. One of the most common criticisms levelled towards digital fashion is that it is impersonal or unreal. But, it actually aids in the creation of emotional experiences. For example, you could make a digital outfit out of flames or a dress out of water.
Digital fashion designers feel the same sense of craftsmanship as traditional or physical fashion designers. They too go through the process of sculpting, modelling, and texturing the designs of their digital outfits.
3. Fashion Business Meets Metaverse Gaming
As worldwide video game sales are expected to reach $175 billion this year, reports show that a large portion of that money is spent on in-game Fashion NFT assets like one-of-a-kind avatars and skins(outfits).
Avatar customization has come a long way since the days of battlegrounds. Gaming is proving to be a profitable platform for luxury businesses to reach out to new customers. For example, Burberry produced a set of NFT characters and accessories for Mythical Games’ Blankos Block Party. They sold out in a matter of minutes, netting roughly $400,000!
Additional Read: Top 5 Play To Earn Blockchain Games
METAVERSE FASHION WEEK
Decentraland, a virtual reality platform, has launched the world’s first-ever Metaverse Fashion Week. During this digital fashion week, Decentraland will hold a series of runway shows, afterparties, and pop-up stores from March 24 to 27. 60+ global brands are displaying digital clothing on avatars strolling down virtual catwalks.
A number of special brands, including Forever 21, Phillip Plien, and Estée Lauder, launched their flagship stores during MVFW22. CashLabs, a Web3 Agency, launched a mixed-media art exhibition, hosting over 20 artists and designers, including The Fabricant and The Dematerialized. The event will also feature a Fashion Film Festival hosted by SHOWstudio and Nick Knight.
HOW TO ATTEND METAVERSE FASHION WEEK?
Most traditional fashion events are reserved for celebrities and influencers or require tickets. But, the world’s first Metaverse Fashion Week is completely free and open to the public. Users just have to log onto Decentraland, and have an Ethereum Wallet to make any purchases.
During the fashion show, viewers will be able to scan a QR code to see a rendering of an item before purchasing it with NFTs from their crypto wallet. The user’s personal avatar can then wear the acquired NFTs.
HOW IS THE METAVERSE FASHION WEEK DIFFERENT?
- Virtual Clothing: During the four-day virtual event, visitors will be able to virtually experience fashion shows and attend live music sessions at branded after parties. Skins (outfits) of virtual avatars who walk the runways are shoppable and wearable, which means your digital avatars can try them on and purchase them. Certain collections exist in the real world. If you buy the collection’s digital version with an NFT, you can retain it, sell it, or even redeem it for the actual item.
- Virtual Showrooms: With the use of a smartphone camera, you can visit virtual stores and scan a QR code to see a realistic-looking 3D replica of any item emerge in your home. Tommy Hilfiger, an American fashion designer who started in 1985, will have a store on Decentraland’s Boson Portal, a metaverse marketplace. Visitors will experience floating 3D representations of signature styles, such as the varsity jacket for men, the madras shirt for women, and a unisex sweatshirt with the distinctive Tommy Hilfiger logo. They can also purchase NFTs (digital version) of products from the Spring Collection.
- Virtual Dance Competitions: Hogan, an Italian luxury brand, will unveil the ‘Hogan Untraditional NFT Collection,’ at the Metaverse Fashion Week to celebrate the re-edition of the Hogan’s first-ever sneaker. The NFT drop features the first-ever virtual world dance competition, with prizes including POAPs, pre-sale NFT spots, and exclusive NFTs.
Also Read: What are Crypto Games?
WHAT TO EXPLORE IN METAVERSE FASHION WEEK?
- Decentraland’s Luxury Fashion District: Decentraland has recently established a Fashion District run by several communities. The district is open to the public during MVFW22. It is hosting a tour-de-force of fashion companies, brands, designers, and fashion aficionados, presented by UNXD and Vogue Arabia. You can catch the industry’s most recognizable brands, Tommy Hilfiger, Dolce&Gabbana, Etro, and metaverse-themed wristwatch Franck Muller in this region.
- Rarible Fresh Drip Zone: is set up on Rarible Street. It is inspired by the streets of New York and filled with concrete and urban atmosphere. Pop-up stores from Placebo Digital Fashion House, The Fabricant, Artisant in collaboration with PUMA, the exclusive line of digital VAULT.swiss watches, and Fresh Couture are set up in the region.
- Parcel-MetaParty Community Precinct: created to celebrate Decentraland’s creator community by Parcel and MetaParty. This incredible multi-level space includes fashion shows, mini games, DJs, music acts, and parkour. The ten winners of the Parcel-MetaParty Wearables Competition will showcase their creations on the Parcel catwalk on March 26.
Read more at Metaverse Fashion Week News
Future of Digital Fashion Business
Fashion firms’ willingness to build collaborations will pay off in the long run in an industry defined by a lot of hype. To profit from the digital fashion sector, significant investment, innovation, and a new gameplay strategy will be necessary.
There is a widespread discussion in the industry that purchasing digital fashions can help minimize waste and overconsumption, a solution to the damaging effects of overproduction in the fashion business. Digital fashion can help firms dealing with pandemic-related manufacturing and supply chain challenges to build a new fan-base.
Additional Read: Best Metaverse Projects 2022
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