Metaverse this, Metaverse that… it’s everywhere!
By now, we’ve all at least heard about a thing or two about the metaverse. Each week, we share the latest digital marketing news in our Digital Marketing class, and the metaverse has been brought up at least once a week, if not more. When I scroll on my phone at night, I inevitably come across another brand interested in the metaverse. So, what is the metaverse and why is it important?
All about the Metaverse
Ever since Facebook’s rebrand to Meta, the metaverse — loosely defined as an extensive online world where interactions happen via digital avatars — has gone mainstream as part of “web3,” the internet’s third act in which users move from consumers to creators to residents in online worlds. The metaverse has become such a hot topic through out the years, and now if brands don’t find a space in the metaverse, some might argue that those brands need to rethink their future. In December 2021, “Nike announced its acquisition of digital design studio RTFKT, which the sportswear company says it hopes will help it explore the possibilities presented by the metaverse.” In January 2022, Microsoft announced its plans to acquire game developer and interactive entertainment content publisher Activision Blizzard, which the software giant says it hopes will “provide building blocks for the metaverse.”
THE NEWS: Haute couture is moving from Paris to the metaverse
Fashion influencers are now up to the date with all things metaverse! In the lastest news article I read, Fashion influencer Dani Loftus shares her latest outfit on Instagram: It’s a shimmering pink evening gown with LED lights. The catch? The outfit doesn’t exist in real life! It is a virtual outfit designed and rendered in 3D and then superimposed on the photo. According to the article, “Loftus calls her digital couture phy-gital, meaning digital clothes worn by humans, and she believes they’re the next frontier of fashion. These garments are designed and manufactured in the digital world; they are virtual renderings of clothes that don’t exist in the physical realm. Using AR technology, people can wear virtual clothes in real time and move and pose with them on.” This news caught my eye because it reminds me of one of my favorite movies, Clueless. In the beginning of the movie, we see he main character, Cher, virtually try on all of her clothes through a screen. I would always think to myself, how cool would it be if that was real? Well, it looks like it might be very soon! Although it is great seeing how far we are coming with the metaverse, it is sometimes scary to think about. The progress of virtual clothes only existing as an image may hold people back from spending money on actual clothes and encourage them to only buy clothes as an image, as it will strengthen their online presence. Will this stop people from interacting in person and encourage them to only interact online? Persoanlly, I love seeing outfits in real life! A 2021 survey found that Gen Z and millennials value their online presence more than their IRL representation. I am interested in seeing where this news takes us, and when clothes will be available to purchase as an image.
Fashion Headed to the Metaverse
Gucci and Balenciaga have already started designing virtual clothes. According to the article, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg predicts that everyone will own virtual clothes in the near future. You’re going to have a wardrobe of virtual clothes for different occasions designed by different creators and from different apps and experiences,” Zuckerberg said. Clothes are an essential part of curating identity, and that’s true for avatars in the metaverse, too.
