Digital fashion has been established since 2018, where companies use VR and AR to show off their new collections in a virtual space. The Fabricant, a virtual fashion designer firm, has made it clear that designing clothing online allows for more creativity, less required resources, and less-risk when designing clothes, and necessary to battle the restrictions of Covid-19 (The Fabricant, n.d.). But lately, a new development has emerged in the fashion industry: using games to advertise and sell clothes, the “gamification of fashion”.
Gamification is defined as the process of adding game elements to non-game activities (Fitz-Walter, n.d.). For fashion brands, such as Burberry, who partnered with Tencent Games and their game “Honor of Kings”, justified their partnership: “Interactive digital content is increasingly become a source of inspiration in (luxury) fashion, games offer another opportunity for consumers to connect with our products online” (Key, 2020). Some brands go as far to create their own free-to-play virtual gaming space, such as Balenciaga, to show off their new collection in virtual dressing rooms. (Key, 2020).
The partnerships with game publishers have become a prominent way for fashion brands to show and sell collections, yet other brands, such as H&M, take it even one step further: selling digital fashion in games. H&M has partnered with Nintendo and their game “Animal Crossing”, which saw major influx of sales due to Covid-19 (Orland, 2021), to recycle their in-game clothes and receive H&M catalogue for their virtual avatars. In addition, H&M created a virtual avatar in the gaming space, which will act as a brand ambassador across games (Scandinavian Mind, n.d.)
Lastly, to illustrate the significance of the emergence of the virtual space of fashion, Digital fashion courses have also been integrated into Bachelor and Master programs in Fashion (Digital Fashion Communication, n.d.). The fashion industry has adapted to the limitations of covid-19, and it is expected to stay.
What do you think about digital fashion? Is it an effective way to showcase collections, or do you still prefer to visit stores and see tangible clothing?
References
Digital Fashion Communication. (n.d.). Master programmes in (digital) fashion communication. Retrieved 8 October 2021, from https://digitalfashion.ch/list-of-masters/
Fitz-Walter, Z. (n.d.). What is Gamification? Gamify. Retrieved 8 October 2021, from https://www.gamify.com/what-is-gamification
Key, M. (2020, December 9). Fashion Gamification: Why high-end brands like Balenciaga are turning to virtual gaming. Reydar. https://www.reydar.com/fashion-gamification-balenciaga/
Orland, K. (2021, February 1). Why Animal Crossing: New Horizons ’ 31 million sales are so incredible. Ars Technica. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/02/putting-31-million-animal-crossing-new-horizons-sales-in-context/
Scandinavian Mind. (n.d.). 6 brands that are leading the way for virtual fashion. Retrieved 8 October 2021, from https://scandinavianmind.com/news/6-brands-that-are-leading-the-way-for-virtual-fashion
The Fabricant. (n.d.). The Fabricant | A Digital Fashion House. Retrieved 8 October 2021, from https://www.thefabricant.com/
Hey Sverre, interesting subject! It is the first time I heard about games implementing real brand clothing collections in their games, but I think it is a smart idea and it could definitely work. I do believe that brands should do enough research about the target audience that they want to reach and explore if this audience plays games. To make this marketing technique a success, I think it would be even better if consumers that play games could scan a barcode in the game, so that they can find the items directly!
Hi Sverre,
Thank you for the interesting blog. I think it is indeed interesting to see how entertainment is integrated into retail these days. Gamification is a great example of that. I even think that Gucci consumers were able to create their own avatars to facilitate virtual try-ons. Personally, I am not really a gamer so I could not see myself using this type of games. However, the game industry has grown massively so I think it is an interesting evolution. You also see gamification and AI being used in for example the beauty industry where consumers can do virtual try-ons. I am looking forward to see what other industries will adopt gamification or other types of entertainment. I think it could work perfectly to test new products and styles with customers or introduce them to new collections.
Interesting to read that digital fashion is such an emerging new trend. I’m curious, what are the costs of creating virtual clothing? Do you think it is fair that companies use games to make money from their virtual clothes?
Still, however, I feel like this could act as a more sustainable alternative to buying ‘new clothes’ in the real world. Do you think it might be a way to more sustainable fashion, as people may not need to buy as many clothes in real life if they can get a fulfilled shopping experience from these digital clothes? I look forward to seeing this business model grow, I am very curious how virtual fashion will develop further in the future.