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/