Thus far 2022 has already been an exciting year for the future of fashion. There is significant uncertainty about what the metaverse will look like, but we at least know that it will be populated by avatars that will need clothes and accessories. Metaverse fashion, therefore, provides an ideal medium for NFTs.
Victoria’s Secret has filed trademark applications in the metaverse, Roksanda has debuted an NFT collection at London Fashion Week, and Gucci purchased a plot of land in The Sandbox—a virtual world on the Ethereum blockchain.
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A universe of possibilities for fashion
An NFT, or non-fungible token, is a unit of data stored on a blockchain to represent a digital asset, such as an image, video, tweet, or audio. NFTs are all about certifying ownership of an asset, which is perfect for bringing fashion into the metaverse. Buying clothing NFTs can be likened to getting a custom-made dress or suit and will allow people to build up virtual premium fashion wardrobes to express themselves in the metaverse. This also opens up a potential market for trading NFT apparel, leaving room for the eBay or Depop of the metaverse to make its debut.
For fashion designers, the possibilities for digital fashion NFTs are vast. Creative visions can be unleashed without physical barriers like gravity or practicality. The non-fungible element to digital clothes can also make virtual fashion items more valuable than their real-life counterparts—this was already seen when the Baby Birkin NFT sold for more than an actual Birkin bag in May 2021. There is also the potential for fashion shows to be held in the metaverse, with information about the garments overlaid on the runway and viewers able to get a closer look at the fabrics than they would have at a real-life show.
Exclusive access will be a draw
Moreover, designers and fashion houses can use NFTs to build up private communities that get exclusive access to upcoming NFT releases, such as Dolce & Gabbana’s ‘DG Family’. The mystique around NFT communities—like the Bored Ape Yacht Club and the Crypto Coven—has already spurred extensive media coverage and celebrity interest, and there is no reason why fashion houses could not use their own metaverse communities to bolster both virtual and physical sales.
With gaming being a major part of the metaverse, there is room for collaboration between fashion houses and game developers to create new skins for gamers, who already pay substantial amounts of money for in-game skins. From a marketing perspective, multiplayer games present an opportunity to raise brand awareness and advertise unique outfits to fellow players. As the world of fashion continues to capitalize on the hype surrounding NFTs, many lucrative and chic possibilities are being discovered for the prospect of fashion in the metaverse. It is a growing and exciting area to watch, for both creative minds and profit-seekers.
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