Home » Yahoo, Charli Cohen And Selfridges Create Virtual World For Pokémon’s 25th Anniversary

7 October, 2021

Yahoo, Charli Cohen And Selfridges Create Virtual World For Pokémon’s 25th Anniversary

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Pokémon, Yahoo has partnered with London-based fashion designer Charli Cohen and British department store Selfridges to launch Electric/City, a first-of-its-kind immersive shopping experience for fashion and gaming buffs.

The immersive, 360 degree video experience takes shoppers to cyberpunk fashion capitals around the world where they can discover and buy limited-edition garments from the Charli Cohen x Pokémon range, as well as an exclusive Charli Cohen digital only range.

Purchase of the digital garments enable fans to create and dress avatars in augmented reality (AR) and can be worn across 300+ virtual platforms including VRChat, Somnium Space and Mozilla Hubs. Shoppers can also access their digital outfits with an AR body tracking Snapchat lens.

The work was brought to life by Yahoo’s UK team in collaboration with tech partners ReadyPlayerMe, BlockV, Wolf 3D and Aircards.

Zoe Cocker, head of brand & Yahoo creative studios ANZ commented: “This project out of the UK goes to show how we’re helping creators and brands bring their immersive experiences to life across the metaverse.”

“Curiosity has piqued here in Australia and New Zealand, and over the last 18 months we’ve seen huge consumer demand for immersive experiences. The Electric/City brandiverse is just one example of how we’re using a hybrid of emerging technologies to create immersive brand experiences at scale.”

Director of creative technology at Yahoo UK Sam Field added: “This project combines 3D virtual environments, 4K video streaming, 3D design software for digital clothing, motion capture, blockchain-enabled digital collectibles, augmented reality and more.”

“As an industry rooted in innovation, our Brandiverse is a natural fit for fashion brands – embracing the power of immersive storytelling to allow people to explore their identity through fashion in new ways and throughout their physical and digital lives. The combination of The Pokémon Company International, Charli Cohen’s focus on tech-inspired fashion, and a retail powerhouse like Selfridges makes for an incredibly exciting collaboration.”

Forbes 30 under 30, London-based fashion designer Charli Cohen said: “Our digital identity has become as important as our physical one as the line between the two continues to blur. With this first of its kind digital store we can give customers the ability to choose whether they want a physical or digital Charli Cohen garment and if digital, what platforms they want to take it into – giving the digital clothing true utility and not just bragging rights.”

“Having grown up with the original Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue on the Gameboy back in the 90’s the Pokémon IP holds a lot of nostalgia for us so it’s an honour to be part of its anniversary celebration. The limited edition physical collection focuses on Pikachu and uses the number 25 to coincide with Pikachu being 025 in the Pokedex and Pokémon’s 25th birthday.”

As part of the launch, Yahoo has partnered with Charli Cohen, Selfridges and BlockV to run a three-day in-store launch promotion from within Selfridges itself. Visitors that head to the world-famous London store can take part by registering for a digital wallet and scanning a live-display for a chance to win physical prizes or one of the Charli Cohen digital collectibles.

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