Digital Fashion is getting modernized and offering multi-dimensional opportunities for apparel brands & retailers. Companies are driving digital transformation in their design, development, and communication process. They are using digital technologies that help them release the products faster into the market. The technologies are also helping brands reduce the need for creating physical samples.
Optitex reports that using 3D technology for product design and development reduces 75% of physical samples. The pandemic led to the trend of working remotely. This trend forced companies to focus on digitalizing product design processes and making communication between factories and offices less dependent on the transport of physical samples.
Metaverse is a new age of the internet that will help brands drive revenue. Moving further let’s explore what is metaverse, its benefits, challenges, and brands using Metaverse.
What is Metaverse?
Metaverse or Meta Universe combines digital and simulated virtual worlds. It is a shared virtual world that users can access through different devices and platforms. Avatars play a prominent role in the Metaverse as users can log in to the platform using their Avatars. These avatars will be dressed in expensive virtual outfits and luxury goods. Multiple virtual luxury goods are released into the market where users can buy them and receive a Non-Fungible Token (NFT). NFT is a virtual certificate of ownership of digital assets that are applicable to a form of digital art.
Metaverse is a fusion of technologies like virtual reality, augmented reality, and videos that help users live within a digital universe. Augmented Reality helps in embedding virtual objects into the real physical world. Virtual Reality uses 3D computer modeling to help users enter the 3D virtual environment. Apparel brands can unlock marketing opportunities through online platforms like virtual fashion shows. VR headsets will help users to watch digital fashion shows and brands can expand their e-commerce services. Metaverse will transform the way virtual office space looks as it offers 3D rendered avatars to represent users in virtual meetings based on their movements and facial expressions.
Benefits of Metaverse
- Eliminates Overstock: Every apparel brand will face the challenges of overstock, over-production, over inventory, and ends up putting an end-of-season stock. Hence, giving rise to deep discount sales leads to depreciating the value of the brand. Virtual fashion can solve the problem of oversupply for apparel brands. The brands need not run sales with discounts to unload their stocks.
- Big Margins: Creating and selling virtual goods will require minimal labor and raw materials. Designers can be more creative while creating these virtual goods as they can use 3D design software to work independently on the designs. Hence, creating a wide variety of unique options for consumers. Brands can also convert the old designs into virtual samples to create a new revenue stream with minimal investment.
- Continued Profits from Resale: The Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) for virtual items will have royalty fees on future transactions of the items. It means when the virtual item is sold from one person to another the original designer will gain revenue shares from the product.
- Contributes to Sustainability: The elimination of physical samples will reduce the harmful impact of the fashion industry on the environment.
Brands Embracing Metaverse
Gucci & Roblox
Roblox hosted the Gucci Garden in May 2021. It was a two-week art installation to promote brands among young customers. The Gucci Garden in Roblox offered various themed rooms that provide honors to the brand’s campaigns. While entering for the first-time visitors can view, try on, and purchase Digital Gucci products to dress their avatars and then walk them through the themed rooms. To make sure that the brand and the platform made a profit, the sale of virtual clothes was done through a revenue-sharing model like NFT.
Louis Vuitton
In 2021, Louis Vuitton had their second centennial. As an honor to its founder, an adventure-based game called Louis the Game came up. While starting the game, the user will enter a world where he/she can run around and collect items to customize their character using Louis Vuitton fashion wear. Additionally, there are 30 NFTs developed by artist Beeple and placed around the game for players to find.
Balenciaga and Fortnite
By the end of 2021, Balenciaga and Fortnite collaborated to enter the metaverse. Players of the video game can buy digital outfits from Balenciaga virtual boutique. The hub was live for a week only and players were able to hang out with each other, try the outfits in changing booths and add the brand’s merch to their inventories. As an additional service, the clothing will also be available offline in the Balenciaga stores and website.
Future of Metaverse
Metaverse will become as real and common as the internet in the future. Users will be able to connect to different metaverses with their avatars. It will also open up endless opportunities for designers, consumers, and buyers. The lines between reality and virtual will gradually blur in the future. Also, Metaverse will create a future where new social relationships and sensory experiences will exist.
Conclusion
Metaverse redefines the way we use technology as we integrate both digital and physical worlds. Apparel brands are entering this digital renaissance by introducing digital clothing. The advent of virtual fashion will eliminate physical limitations. There will be no size barriers and no tangible barriers with the use of Digital Fashion. Hence, consumers can dress freely and put on materials that they couldn’t wear in the physical world. With Metaverse, the apparel industry is getting more accessible for sellers and buying along with tackling the need for sustainability.
