Never far from the forefront of technological innovation, the fashion industry is currently taking to fashion week to make some serious moves in the metaverse space.
On Monday it fell to New York Fashion Week designer Jonathan Simkhai to kick things off. Showcasing his AW22 digital wearables collection as part of Metaverse Fashion Week - an event produced by Everyrealm and Blueberry Entertainment - a day ahead of his seasonal physical presentation, eleven of the designer's new season looks were digitally reimagined for the metaverse.
Transformed into digital wearables by Blueberry Entertainment, a digital wearables production studio that “grew out of increasing demand for digital clothing”, the label made history as “the first ever to show its autumm/winter 2022 digital wearables collection ahead of their physical counterparts”.
Everyrealm, a “metaverse real estate investor and developer”, coordinated the production and is hosting an NFT sale of select wearables from the collection on Wednesday.
- EntertainmentWho is the real Martha from Baby Reindeer?
But it wasn't just the clothes that were virtual, with models, influencers, celebrities, and journalists from fashion, tech, and lifestyle industries among the VIP guests, who appeared via personalised avatars - all wearing Jonathan Simkhai looks - and arrived via teleportation to their allotted seats.
The future's bright.
Also joining the virtual world is Roksanda, who is taking to London Fashion week to “bring digitisation, accessibility and innovation to fashion lovers everywhere”.
Partnering with Clearpay, LFW’s principal sponsor, they have exclusively created a demi couture finale look from the brand's forthcoming show in the form of an NFT. Working together with the Institute of Digital Fashion to bring the project to life, this marks the first foray into the metaverse for both Clearpay and Roksanda.
This finale look will debut on the runway during Roksanda AW22 showcase next Monday, and the digital version will give consumers “tangible access to high-end fashion that they previously wouldn’t have been able to”. An AR function will also be available, which will allow consumers to virtually 'try on' the NFT.
“A big part of our commitment to London Fashion Week is ensuring that fashion is accessible to consumers,” explained Nick Molnar, Co-Founder and CEO of Clearpay, “and by partnering with Roksanda and the Institute of Digital Fashion this season, we’re able to do that in quite an exciting way.”
“We’re proud to be able to help democratise fashion, and enable consumers to buy, interact, and engage with Roksanda's artistry in such an innovative way. It’s exciting to see this all come to life at such an important moment in the British fashion calendar.”
Destination metaverse.
