During the pandemic I had spare time to do many things. Clean over clean, bake for myself and the whole building, finish Netflix (yes, Netflix)… and bring out my Nintendo to play Mario Kart. The funny thing is that apparently I was not the only one to come back to the game-sphere and metaverse, a trend into which brands are laying groundwork to enter.
Including both digital and physical features, the italian luxury house D&G was the pioneer in the luxury industry to include NFTs with its “The Collezione Genesi” collection. A bespoke and fully handcrafted collection exclusively designed by Domenico and Stefano for UNXD.
NYFW had the honor to gather a different approach of creating digital collections with Rebecca Minkoff’s “I LoveNew York” work. The brand partnered with “The Dematerialised” digital marketplace presenting an NFT collection of 400 digital garments built in-house using Yahoo’s XR immersive platform.
If being part of cartoons wasn’t enough, Balenciaga has decided to enter the gaming sphere with its Fortnite collaboration; a place where digital garments are presented in limited edition drops creatingabiggerpresenceinsuchonlinecommunities.Guccididn’twanttomissout either with its monogrammed Xbox, and neither did Stefan Cook’s co-signing with “The Sims”.
Speaking of gaming, why have a collection when you can have a whole world? This same question arose to the sportswear giant Nike and therefore came with “Nikeland”: a free-to-play virtual world partnering with video-game platform Roblox. Not only does this world present exclusive items, but players are able to dress their characters in digital versions of Nike products and play games like dodgeball and floor-is-lava.
And speaking of Fashion, why not have a digital red carpet event? Introducing a new category honoring “metaverse design”, The British Fashion Council included an in-game experience virtual recreation of the Royal Albert Hall for its annual Fashion Awards.
The near future looks very nostalgic, and gaming takes the first place. Could this be the New Normal?
