DESIGNER DIGITAL COLLABS

BY: Andy Shoulders

As fashion continues to evolve, so too does our mindset surrounding it. Designers are starting to sink their teeth into a whole new arena to show their latest garments, and in this new fashion Metaverse, you can’t physically wear any of them. The word “Metaverse” first came about in Neal Stephenson’s 1992 sci-fi novel Snow Crash, which depicts a hypothetical future where avatars meet in different virtual realities. There are indeed solid parallels between that and what we know as the Metaverse now. It’s just that Stephenson probably didn’t predict that every avatar there would be dressed in head-to-toe Balenciaga.Let’s take a look at three different adventures into the fashion Metaverse that made us rethink what exactly it means to consume fashion:

BALENCIAGA / FORTNITE

Back in September of last year, Epic Games announced a collaboration between popular online game Fortnite and the famed fashion house Balenciaga. Inspired by Balenciaga’s iconic collections, four of Fortnite’s fan-favorite characters – Doggo, Ramirez, Knight, and Banshee – can be seen wearing unique looks baring Balenciaga backblings, pickaxes, and more. Fortnite is known for allowing its players to show up looking however they want, and with these new exclusive Balenciaga looks, Fortnite fashion choices just got, well, higher. Of course, for those of us that actually still like owning physical garments, both brands are debuting limited-run collaborative capsule collections available exclusively at select Balenciaga stores.

 

 

 

STEFAN COOK / SIMS

Uber-popular EA game The Sims just got a fashion upgrade with London-based designer Stefan Cook’s 23-piece Modern Menswear Kit. Released in December of last year, the kit consists of Cook’s most well-known designs, such as the varsity coat/skirt combo and the slashed sweater that Sam Smith wore during his Love Goes album tour. The Sims is no stranger to fashion collabs, having already partnered with Moschino and Gucci on past projects, but Stefan Cooke is the first British fashion brand to work with the beloved virtual reality game. Cooke credits the Sims world’s ability to break down barriers of self expression in general, and thought it would be the perfect place to debut a virtual, boundary-pushing collection of his own.

 

 

 

BURBERRY & LOUIS VUITTON / NFTs

Fashion giants Burberry and Louis Vuitton have gotten in on the newest craze in digital ownership: NFTs.They are a bit complicated to explain, but here goes: basically, NFTs are digital tokens that represent real world assets, such as music, videos, and in Burberry & Louis Vuitton’s cases – fashion game characters and digital art. Last summer, Burberry released an NFT game character named Sharky B for Mythical Games’ multiplayer online game Blankos Block Party. The limited-edition character, which is cleverly covered in Burberry’s TB monogram, is available for in-game purchase. Over at Louis Vuitton, mobile video game Louis: The Game follows house mascot Vivienne on her way to Paris, during which players can collect 30 free NFTs along the way.

 

 

 

As more and more fashion houses jump into tech and the world of NFTs, it remains to be seen just how far a brand can go when it comes to computer-based fashion. Sure, most of us of a certain age will have trouble seeing the point of paying out of pocket for fashion that can’t be physically worn, but that hasn’t stopped tech-savvy collectors from scooping up digital fashion property. Just ask fashion brand The Fabricant, which auctioned an NFT for a digital garment known as the Iridescence Dress for a whopping $10,000. This was in 2019 no less, when the whole NFT market was in its infancy.

Love it or hate it, the fashion world is slowly but surely headed towards the Metaverse, whether you’re along for the ride or not.