In an increasingly digitized world, the concept of Metaverse is gaining more and more popularity. If you are not yet familiar with the term, the Metaverse is considered by many to be the natural evolution of the Internet, referring to a network of interactive and experiential virtual worlds that we can access and interact with other users, companies and brands digitally.
The technological revolution and the birth of this dematerialized virtual world now allow us to conceive of fashion in a different way. An unprecedented world is emerging, and with it, its trends, its market and its culture. Both for the fashion industry and its companies, as well as for its customers, the Metaverse promises a renewal of our relationship with fashion. A freer, more transparent relationship with more opportunities.
For fashion brands, the Metaverse offers endless possibilities and opportunities that, in fact, multiple companies and brands in the fashion industry are already exploring and leveraging to generate business. In this article we will explore how fashion brands can leverage the potential of the Metaverse to take their creativity to the next level and deliver unforgettable experiences to their customers.
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The Digitization of Fashion in the Metaverse
The fashion industry is undergoing a radical shift in how clothing is presented and sold. Digitization has enabled fashion brands to bring their products and services to a global audience more efficiently and effectively than ever before.
In recent years, we have seen an increase in the use of online platforms for selling clothing and accessories, as well as the use of social media and other digital platforms to promote and publicize the latest fashion trends.
Also, in a more virtual way, the early foundations of the Metaverse are generating interesting projects underway. For example, some brands are experimenting with Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality to offer customers the chance to experience how they would look in different garments before buying them. On the other hand, there are also projects underway that seek to create virtual environments in which customers can interact and customize their own fashion looks and relate more closely to the brand.
Just as technological revolutions throughout history have set the pace for our changing habits, any of us may wonder how the Metaverse is changing the relationship between the fashion industry and its own business.
In a simple question: How are fashion companies and brands generating business in the Metaverse
Designing and marketing digital apparel in the Metaverse
For fashion companies and brands that are just starting to explore the possibilities of the Metaverse, selling digital apparel is the easiest way to monetize and monetize their presence in the virtual world.
In this aspect, creativity plays a key role, being able to make designs of new garments of clothes and accessories exclusive to the Metaverse, or also to make recreations of the garments and accessories that already exist in the real world.
All users have their own digital presence through their virtual avatar and, as happens in the real world, they will all want to dress and show themselves in a personalized way, with their own style, and do so with their most related brands.
Offer limited access and exclusive experiences
Like any other existing communication channel, the best way to capture the attention of the public and move them to act is by offering content of value that interests users. In this way, the Metaverse is predisposed to be a new channel in which to provide limited and exclusive content, allowing brands to offer more personalized experiences that stand out among the selected audience.
Building and driving a virtual community
To be present in the Metaverse, is also to be present in the minds of the users that constitute it. For this reason, developing a community in the Metaverse can be a determining factor in attracting a new target, the new generations of digital consumers, who, moreover, are the ones who most value virtual experiences as a way of generating closer and more personal interactions with brands.
The power of having a community that supports and endorses brands has already proven to be essential in today's Internet of social networks and this is going to be maximized even more in the Metaverse, being an essential factor of influence and credibility.
Create and gamify virtual exhibition spaces
The Metaverse allows brands the possibility of creating their own exhibition spaces, either in virtual environments created from scratch or on existing virtual platforms such as Decentraland or Roblox, among others.
In either case, these virtual spaces represent a new place in which to strengthen the brand-customer connection, allowing the latter to discover and interact with the products without geographical restriction, at any time, and freely.
And, without a doubt, gamification is an essential element to include in the formula, implementing features of video games to encourage participation and incite users to interact with the brand in these environments.
Key technologies of the Metaverse applied to fashion
The current reality makes it difficult to make a precise list of the main technologies to be developed to further drive the creation of the Metaverse, as the concept still has different approaches and no concrete path for its development is defined.
Despite this, based on the current technology landscape and the projects that have been emerging and succeeding in recent months, we can be convinced that the following technologies will be important for the development of the Metaverse.
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality
These technologies allow users to interact with virtual elements in a natural and realistic way, being necessary both to create highly immersive and realistic environments, and to facilitate the design and visualization of products and projects virtually.
Graphic engines
From the hand of VR and AR, graphic engines are essential for the creation of the Metaverse, offering the necessary tools and functionalities to create the virtual environments and experiences that users will have access to. Mainly, we can highlight Unity and Unreal Engine 5 as the most adapted and powerful at present to carry out this type of developments.
Artificial Intelligence
AI applied to the Metaverse can be used to create digital entities that can interact with users in an autonomous and coherent way, such as avatars that can have conversations with users and adapt to their needs and preferences.
Blockchain
Blockchain technology allows the storage and management of a large amount of data and transactionsoffering users security, decentralization and transparency. It is currently already being used in virtual platforms such as Decentraland or The Sandbox.
5G Network
The Metaverse will be a highly connected environment where large amounts of data will be shared and processed in real time, so it will be necessary to develop the 5G network infrastructure to ensure the scalability and reliability of the Metaverse.
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Benefits of the Metaverse for fashion brands
- Broader reach: The Metaverse allows fashion brands to reach a wider audience through virtual platforms, which in turn generates in increased brand visibility.
- Cost savings: Whether developing events in the virtual world or selling digital assets, the Metaverse allows brands to save costs compared to real-world processes, resulting in higher profits.
- Media awareness: The Metaverse concept has attracted a lot of attention in recent months, including, of course, from journalists and the media. Innovative projects have a high chance of being newsworthy.
- Development of new business models: Through the Metaverse, as a new channel of communication with the public, fashion brands are generating new purely virtual business models by selling digital assets.
Examples of fashion projects in the Metaverse
In recent months more and more companies have decided to explore the virtual world by entering the Metaverse.
In the quest to develop their business brands in the fashion industry have been the drivers of multiple gamified experiences and interactive virtual environments, they have shown their products and integrated them into virtual avatars and finally marketed them virtually.
Thus, we will now detail the main axes chosen by the fashion industry to take advantage of the virtual world and the different approaches that companies such as Nike, Balenciaga, Zara, Tommy Hilfiger or Pull & Bear have given to their projects.
Personalized, gamified and interactive virtual environments
Most of these companies have prioritized the creation of a perpetual virtual environment, which represents the brand, its values, vision and characteristics, so that it is easy to identify, associate and remember which brand is behind such creation.
Mostly, fashion brands are choosing Roblox, to create more gamified and entertaining experiences, and Decentraland to hold events, fashion shows and market cosmetics and accessories for user avatars in the form of NFTs.
Some of the examples we can highlight are those of NikeLand, GucciTown or The Ralph Lauren Winter Escape, in Roblox, and the Metaverse Fashion Week or the Springfield Metacollection in Decentraland.
Use of virtual avatars for the presentation of new collections
Another option that other companies in the fashion industry have opted for is to design and create their own virtual avatars with which to advertise and showcase their products, in addition to using them as digital representation and brand ambassadors.
This is the case of the brand OVVER STUDIO, for example, which decided to create Hanna and Wammu as digital models to present its first clothing collection. Through its website, users could visualize both virtual avatars wearing different outfits using garments from this first collection.
Marketing products digitally or driven by the virtual world
The purpose of these companies for making the leap into the virtual world is mainly to prolong their business models through the Metaverse. That is, to start marketing digital garments that users can wear in the virtual world.
Even some brands, such as Balenciaga, have taken advantage of the success of their virtual garments to create new collections and sell them in the physical world. In this case, after its collaboration to create skins in Fortnite, the luxury brand took advantage of the viral pull of this collaboration to create a physical collection that included elements of the popular video game. Another similar example can be found in the Lacoste x Minecraft collection, in which the popular crocodile brand adapted to the cubist aesthetics of the video game, both in the real and virtual world.
Another concept that stands out when it comes to generating business through the sale of digital assets is that of selling purely virtual garments, but which users can "wear" in the real world thanks to the use of Augmented Reality. A concept that has captivated the world of influencers, allowing them to create photographs with different clothing designs without the need to accumulate them in a closet. This is the business idea being popularized by the DressX brand.
