Fashion and the metaverse: how NFTs and digital clothing are going to change our wardrobe

Raise your hand if your Tinder date ever starts talking to you about how you can become a millionaire by investing in Bitcoins and you've laughed. All? Ok, so maybe getting rich is a bit of an exaggeration, but the truth is that digital assets and the 'blockchain' are increasingly entering our lives and, in particular, our closets. This is what the metaverse is about, a new reality that superimposes our real life with the virtual world, combining them in an intelligible way. A concept that fashion saw coming from afar but that did not gain momentum until the appearance of NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens), which allow the ownership of a digital creation to be sold and, therefore, give it value.

This same concept can also be applied to fashion, which since the quarantine due to the Covid-19 health crisis, has given a great boost to its online communication and investment. Balenciaga presented its fall 2021 collection through a video game, Valentino and Ganni have created Animal Crossing 'skins' (clothes for your avatar) and Adidas has launched a collection of physical and NFT streetwear clothing. Fashion brands have gone pixel and we'll tell you everything you need to know to stay up to date on digital fashion and impress your 'crush' on your next date.

What do the metaverse and NFTs have to do with fashion?

Video games, sustainability and technological advances in augmented reality have transformed the way in which brands relate to their consumers, giving rise to new synergies in which, the least important thing is having physical clothes hanging on a hanger. Some of these unions we already know, although we are so familiar with them that we do not even perceive them. This is the case of the Snapchat and Instagram filters, which allow us to wear the earrings of our favorite jewelry firm without having to buy them, or the Balenciaga 'skins' that allow us to dress our character in Fortnite.

Both projects are designed to reinforce the firm's brand image, but what motivates a digital creator to design virtual clothing? Essentially, NFTs. Thanks to 'blockchain' technology, it has been possible to sell digital art (songs, illustrations, designs, memes...) guaranteeing that the buyer is the sole owner of that product. Yes, we know what you are thinking, what is the use of having a digital dress?

Why would anyone want to buy digital clothing?

We ask ourselves the same thing when we see that there are sneaker collectors who buy pairs that they are never going to wear, or that are not even their size. Or when our 14-year-old cousin asks for a skin for his Roblox character. There are many reasons why someone would want to buy clothes that can only be worn 'online', but they all start from one base: the Web3. These are the four reasons why the internet has become three-dimensional and transformed fashion.

Social networks and centennials

Since the lockdown, the time we spend interacting through the internet has increased considerably. Video call meetings, online appointments, streaming events, have become part of our daily lives almost without realizing it and this has made us give more importance to our digital image.

Karinna Nobbs, co-founder of the virtual fashion brand The Dematirialised, explains in a recent The Business of Fashion podcast that: "Covid has made many people understand that we need to show our personality in the digital environment and that digital environment is not incompatible with the real world. Nobbs clarifies that of course clothes have an important usefulness dimension, but "people who buy fashion and use social media do so because it reflects our personality and we want to share it."

Consequently, the time we spend on social networks makes us give more and more importance to how we show ourselves through our profiles, especially the younger generations such as the 'centennials'. A recent report by The Evening Standard shows that one in ten people admit to buying clothes just to show them on social networks, so digital fashion is presented as a more sustainable way of dealing with this trend.

A good example of this practice is Alissa Aulbekova and Paula Sello, co-founders of Auroboros, the first digital brand to walk the runway at London Fashion Week, they design clothing you can wear with Augmented Reality that completely fits your body. In this way, they avoid 97% of polluting waste generated by any brand of physical clothing in use.

The videogames

Sergey Arkhanangelskiy, founder of Wanna Kicks, the 'app' for trying on sneakers virtually before they are released, explains in a recent BOF podcast that: "customers are looking for experiences that have more interaction and brands are looking for their consumers where socialize". Where do both needs come together? In video games and the 'online' environment.

The fashion brands were clear about it and shortly after the launch of the video game 'Animal Crossing: New Horizons', it was already possible to dress your character with clothes from firms such as Valentino, Ganni or Benetton. This was followed by the big launch of Louis Vuitton 'skins' in Fortnite, followed by the Balenciaga 'pack', which combined clothing for your avatar as well as a capsule collection of physical clothing. According to Ian Rogers, former director of Digital Experiences at LVMH: "once we have bought our digital clothes, we need a virtual space in which to show off our purchase". And that's where platforms like The Sandbox come in, the online video game with which Adidas has collaborated so that buyers of its NFTs can wear their clothes.

A new conception of luxury

A brand that has been able to jump on the metaverse bandwagon, even before Facebook announced that it was renamed Meta, is Balenciaga. At the beginning of the year, the Paris-based firm presented its Fall 2021 collection to us as a video game, called Afterworld. With it, you could navigate a futuristic universe in which the characters appear dressed in 'looks' from the collection, thus managing to connect with a younger consumer.

Ian Rogers: The real invention is that there can be digital scarcity

The most significant thing about the fact that we are already in the metaverse —and that it is going to be a reality— is that brands like Balenciaga have discovered that Generation Z is not impressed by a pretty store or a runway where only 'celebrities' go. The 'centennials' have another way of perceiving luxury that is forcing brands to change their strategy.

About this change, Karinna Nobbs explains that in the podcast that: "luxury is being redefined; it will no longer consist of good quality leathers or laboriously made garments, but rather in the scarcity of the product and having access to something exclusive". Yes, many people may have copies of your product, but when you buy an NFT you own the original or an official version created by the designer. The logic is the same as buying a Chanel bag: you can get a fake, but many people still prefer to buy the original, which can be verified by the reference number inside.

collecting

According to Ian Rogers, collecting is "a human need to prove that we exist. Why have a sneaker collection at home that no one sees when you can have it 'online' and everyone can see it?" The 'sneakerheads' have been collecting exclusive models of sneakers for decades, not necessarily in their size or to wear them, to have them for a while and then resell them. The goal is not to have many shoes, but the rarest and most difficult to find. The same goes for NFT collectors, who buy and sell designs in the hope that they will appreciate in value and make a profit.

In the middle of 2021, Nike saw an opportunity and began working to take it a step further and release their shoes into the metaverse. To do this, last week it announced the acquisition of ARTFKT, the most cutting-edge NFT sneaker platform of the moment. But the signature of the 'swoosh' has not been the first to launch virtual shoes, at the beginning of the year Gucci presented Gucci Garage, a 'site' where you could customize its most iconic shoe models and buy them for 10 euros. Of course, they can only be worn virtually.

The future of physical stores

The pandemic has undoubtedly been a turning point for fashion, in which many brands have had to reconsider what is essential for them and look for new ways to connect with their consumer. According to Ian Roger, this is where physical stores come into play: "in fashion, 'retail' is part of the experience and is a very important asset. Being able to 'whatsapp' with your trusted seller is a virtual way of getting closer to the point of sale".

For the expert in virtual experiences, the key is to understand the store as a space where the brand image and customer loyalty are reinforced. At the same time, he emphasizes that: "the more time we spend 'online', the more value physical experiences will gain, so having a point of sale will not be unreasonable".

Digital creator Ommy Akhe commented on her recent interview with Robin-Mellery Pratt that: "Digital products have a huge markup because of the ease of reproduction at no additional cost," which is very attractive especially for luxury brands.

What near future awaits fashion?

According to Ian Rogers, "by next year you will most likely have the digital version of every product you buy." This would be an interesting transition step to get the general consumer used to this type of product. Meanwhile, Aurobros' 100% digital commitment is more focused on creatives and experts in fashion and innovation who already see the potential and value of their garments.

It is estimated that in a matter of five years NFTs will be normalized and experts such as Karinna Nobbs point out that we will have more online spaces in which to display our digital clothing. Meanwhile, Silicon Valley giants like Facebook , sorry, Meta, they are already developing Augmented Reality glasses with which Karinna ventures, we will be able to see the virtual 'looks' that people wear on the street.

Faced with people's concern about how the metaverse will materialize, Rogers warns that we are getting carried away by the narrative, and that many times the practical application is not so science fiction. However, he notes that it is too early to see where NFTs and the metaverse will take us. What is clear is that the future of fashion is much closer than we thought.