ARTICLE
Deciphering Luxury Fashions'
ENTRANCE TO THE METAVERSE BY PORTIA GREENIG
As luxury fashion prepares for a digital future, its entrance to the metaverse exposes the attitudes of overconsumption plaguing modern culture, which brands must resolve through more than digital garments.
platforms they want to take it into”, Cohen said of her project. Consumers can view Charli Cohen’s collection alongside the likes of Balenciaga, who recently collaborated with Fortnite to offer styles that individuals can wear in real-life or within the game. These campaigns are a testament to the transition of luxury fashion to the digital sphere.
As we ascend the steps to Electric/City, we find ourselves in a rainy, neo-noir-like cityscape resembling New York’s concrete jungle and Tokyo’s bright neon lights. The rain has not dampened the city’s energy as shoppers pour into Central Square, taking photos and chatting with friends. Yet, a particular feature gives this place its unique identity: it does not physically exist.
Periods of lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic have increased individuals’ desire to express their identities online. Many consider their digital identity an extension of themselves which they can use to curate their desired image. Insight from a Business of Fashion analysis supports this notion; 70% of US consumers now see their digital identity as important - a statistic that many luxury brands seemed to consider in their recent shifts of interest in marketing strategies.
Electric/City is a digital world born from London-based designer Charli Cohen, in collaboration with the iconic luxury retail giant Selfridges. It is among a growing wave of projects using fashion to traverse the metaverse. The metaverse, a concept born in Neil Stephensons 1992 novel ‘Snow Crash’, is an immersive online world where people can interact and socialise via personal avatars or augmented reality (AR). In Electric/City, shoppers can buy physical and digital garments to dress a unique avatar with access to more than 300 virtual spaces across the metaverse. “We can give customers the ability to choose whether they want a physical or digital Charli Cohen garment and, if digital, what
While digital fashion campaigns aim to satiate our need to express a distinct online identity, their growing presence unveils the increasing overconsumption of luxury goods. Although luxury fashion is traditionally associated with craftsmanship, scarcity, and high quality, social media has increased its accessibility to young, digitally native consumers, namely Generation Z and Millennials, who now drive the industry. Social media has considerable influence on their buying behaviour, as they consider trending styles seen on the internet when curating their digital identity. “We have reached the generation 76
