Metaverse Fashion: From Designers to Decentraland
Several industries are embracing the metaverse full bore, with many of them highlighting their plans for the future. None, however, are already making waves as big as the fashion industry. One of the building blocks of metaverse expression will come from customisation of our digital selves. As in reality, what we wear can define who we are; it can distill our personalities through materials and colours.
How we look in the metaverse will differ greatly from reality if we choose it. In the metaverse, none of us will be confined by shapes or sizes, we can wear hats five feet tall, or dresses that defy physics. This is not only freeing for consumers, but also creators.
Fabricants
Projects like The Fabricant are giving a platform to designers without the backing of a major fashion label. Designers are unburdened by physical constraints, as The Fabricant focuses solely on digital couture. This digital arena becomes a playground for creators as clothes can come to life, interchange colors, while growing and morphing around our avatar bodies.
As the Fabricant’s blog informs, “From our perspective, the 3D fashion we create is not just a matter of digital dress-up, but a way to transmit emotion as we iterate humanity in a new realm of existence.”
Using a freely downloadable software, anyone can be a fashion designer with The Fabricant. All of the items created and sold by the company are unique NFTs and the creators of the brand hope that by 2025 over 100 million people will be “metaverse-ready” with access to digital garments. The dream being that when we enter into the metaverse, we feel unique and unlikely to bump into someone else wearing the shirt we are.
Of course, videogames have for so long been selling different costumes and skins for their games. Companies like Epic Games and Blizzard have showcased design through outfits in Fortnite and Overwatch respectively. However, these items are used within the walled gardens of their titles. In order to take our new sneakers from one platform to another, we need to see fashion outlets being established through the current metaverse projects.
Roblox
With Roblox, fashion houses have flocked to the platform for some time now. Brands including Gucci, Stella McCartney, Vans and Nike have long since established their clothing for Roblox users. While this clothing still doesn’t fulfil metaverse aspirations of cross-platform play, users are able to take their clothing between experiences on the platform itself.
For example, during the London Fashion Week event recently, players could purchase Gucci accessories within the experience, while browsing the Royal Albert Hall show. These purchases could be taken into any of the major games, influencing other players and thereby growing the footprint of the brand.
When you consider that some of the Roblox games number users up to 500k, that’s a lot of possible players who will get eyes on the fashion releases. This will only multiply when fashion takes other metaverse platforms by storm, via store openings and fashion weeks, which will showcase these unique items.
Physicality
Of course, many of these brands are happy for digital users to wear their garments and merchandise, but the business doesn’t stop with pixels. Many brands, including Dolce&Gabbana, are now pairing digital items with those available in reality. With the idea being that a consumer can purchase a dress or some shoes in their favorite metaverse while also taking delivery of the physical items too.
Digital identity is such an important concept for the metaverse that brands looking the other way will surely kick themselves as people, particularly the younger users such as Gen Z, flock to the new immersive internet. CEO of Ralph Lauren, Patrice Louvet, recently commented that his company is choosing to utilize the metaverse as a way to attract younger shoppers.
Many companies are beginning to see even more potential when collaborating with metaverse properties. DressX, another company similar to Fabricant, allows customers to send in a photo or video of themselves in order to have the garment rendered as an overlay; perfect for Instagram and Twitter, where Web2 users can see the benefits of Web3 commerce.
This is a fruitful industry push given that companies like Adidas and Nike are constantly on the lookout to partner with big names; like Bored Ape Yacht Club, or purchase established companies, like virtual sneaker brand, RTFKT.
Decentraland
For consumers, discovery is key to being able to find the right brand to represent them in the metaverse. While every metaverse-aspiring platform hosts areas or events for the fashion conscious, Decentraland seems to be leading the charge by hosting their own Fashion Week from March 24th through to March 27th 2022.
The Decentraland fashion district has started to grab headlines within the real estate world as plots of land are being compared to New York’s Fifth Avenue. This is reflected in the digital land being bought up by companies for seven figure sums. Decentraland is betting big on bringing fashion to the living room, showcasing some of the biggest brands in the industry. The event is aiming to host games, concerts and runway shows across twenty locations in the metaverse. Clothing will be available as both digital and physical items, from over fifty headline names.
With this push, fashion is breaking out of the walled gardens of Fortnite and Roblox, by utilizing NFTs which will, one day, be worn cross-platform. This means that anything bought within the Decentraland fashion district could be worn over on Somnium Space, Zepeto or even The Sandbox. The future of personal expression will thrive in the metaverse, and this is only the start.
Admix and Boson Protocol
Admix is very proud to be partnering with Boson Protocol to help realize fashion week in Decentraland. Together, we can bring brands into the metaverse delivering a consumer friendly experience. We believe that fashion week is just the tip of the iceberg for metaverse events, and Decentraland are poised to capitalize with their installed user base.
With Boson Protocol’s experience of connecting the real world with the metaverse through their infrastructure layer, they can ensure that metaverse shoppers receive physical items tied to their digital purchase. Combined with the brand expertise and developer partnerships of Admix, we hope to deliver a truly memorable fashion week whether you’re in Decentraland to shop for clothes, or just soak up the atmosphere.
We can’t wait to see you in Decentraland for Fashion Week from March 24th through to March 27th 2022.
Originally published at https://blog.admixplay.com on February 10, 2022.
