The way we all think about fashion is about to change. With the arrival of digital fashion, artists, designers, and well-known brands are taking a foothold in this new branch of the fashion world. We’re going beyond the physical and entering the metaverse where fashion can become more than adorning an outfit that fits our bodies and styles.
What Is Digital Fashion?
The idea of digital fashion is to create visual representations of clothing that are built using modern technologies and 3D software. Unlike fashion in the physical world, its digital counterpart will not be bound to convention and limitations. The avatars we choose to represent us in the metaverse don’t even have to appear human, which gives fashion designers vast freedom with new creations and innovation. The internet has already changed the way we choose and purchase clothing, but with the arrival of Web3, we are likely to get an entirely new perspective on fashion.
High-Brow Brands Are Joining the Movement
Shaping the future of digital fashion in the metaverse currently falls to a wave of new tech companies and a number of well-known fashion establishments looking to be among the first to get a foothold in the new space full of opportunities. In the spring of 2021, Gucci started a collaboration with Roblox, a gaming company, and debuted a collection of NFTs in February. Gucci even bought a plot of virtual land on an Ethereum-based digital world called The Sandbox. Last September, Dolce & Gabbana netted over $5.5 million with Collezione Genesi NFTs and headlined the Decentraland virtual world platform’s first-ever Metaverse Fashion Week in March.
Can Technology Keep Up
Other brands including Balenciaga, Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Adidas, Ralph Lauren, and Nike have all started dropping their own metaverse digital fashion projects over the past months. With the fashion industry rallying behind this venture and investing in it, the main problem standing in the way is current technology. It hasn’t caught up with our limitless imagination yet and the processing speed of a basic smartphone or laptop isn’t enough to provide the seamless, high-definition experience creators are envisioning. Until the meta-scape catches up technologically, innovators like Charli Cohen, a British designer, are collaborating with video games, open worlds, social media, and similar platforms.
Does This Change the Nature of Fashion
It’s possible that the development of Web3 will push fashion into its next evolutionary step. The difference is that, rather than simply choosing a pair of pants and a shirt to match every morning, users can choose any shape or form that they feel allows them to express who they really are. For many years, avid game connoisseurs and social media users have been enjoying choosing skins for their characters and avatars. Digital fashion will simply take this concept to another level.