Kloner MetaLog 3.0
The metaverse is a parallel digital universe, it is permanent, continuous and one which seamlessly cross into our real lives as the concept where real and digital becomes increasingly indistinguishable. Whereas internet today is one where we just look at through a screen, the metaverse is something that we’ll be actually inside of. So, the metaverse is a shared virtual three-dimensional world or even worlds that are interactive, immersive an also collaborative.
This real time alternate reality will stitch together all manner of virtual worlds where we bounced between socializing with friends, having meetings with work colleagues or even taking exotic trips and of course, shopping for clothes to wear out in real life and others to enhance the appearance of our digital avatars. That’s the character that appears in the metaverse as you.
If we fast forward 10 years from now and we all work in the metaverse, we meet in the metaverse and we play in the metaverse, we will need our own avatar. We will need a representation of ourselves out there. This is where fashion plays an important role. Here the fashion companies are in a very unique position that they know their customers so well that they know their body shapes, they know their appearance because they know which products they are buying. So, they are able to equip a large crowd of people with personalized and high-quality avatars and fashion companies are starting to realize this and translating into even digital fashion where no physical product is being sold.
This leaves us wondering the importance of retail fashion in the metaverse.
The more time we spend in the digital world as avatars, the more we want to wear the digital only clothing and accessories. This provides a huge opportunity for fashion brands to go digital. Imagine a metaverse where there’s tens of millions of people, who would want to differentiate, be unique and currently metaverse applications allow you to pick from say, only 20 different avatars and you can change the color of the shirt, hair, skin tone, etc. This is not going to work with millions of people. They would want to differentiate, they would want to express their personalities and that is exactly what fashion does.
This is good news for the retailers because the future of fashion is already here as we are seeing more and more AI technology being used in fashion and retail. AI can track shoppers’ preferences, create personalised experiences for different customer segments, and improve product recommendations. AI is also helping brands build a better relationship with their customers by understanding what they want before they even ask for it.
Thinking of such a fantasy world, the Metaverse mainly comprises of three major categories of experiences such as:
The first one includes Games, which are interactive experiences where you can interact with other players, an important aspect of digital fashion is the gaming industry. Essentially, metaverse has emerged out of gaming where the users/players spend over $100 billion a year on virtual goods. According to the reports from Business of Fashion and Mckinsey & Company, “3 billion people, more than a third of the world’s population regularly play video games. 46% of Gamers are women. Gaming is the preferred entertainment format globally across all the ages. As gaming emerges as a lucrative channel for luxury brands to reach new customers, Screen wear is the new Streetwear”.
The second category includes Social Media like Facebook and Instagram, which allow you to share your life experiences with your friends.
The third category includes digital services like renting /buying real estate, Fashion Marketplace and metacloset where there’s involvement of NFTs. NFT marketplaces give digital fashion greater value by allowing Fashion NFTs to be worn on one’s own photos and videos in augmented reality (AR). They also serve as a MetaCloset where users can store their digital fashion outfits. It provides the designers, fashion brands, and consumers, an opportunity to connect!
Out of the many emerging advancements, two, sought after ones, developed in this field are:
The Dematerialized: An online marketplace where creators can sell their own digital fashion lines. It includes a bespoke fitting tool where a digital tailor dresses your digital avatar. You can then transport it to a game or a metaverse world.
DRESSX: An up-and-coming platform that not only sells virtual clothing but also provides a wide range of services, from digitising physical fashion collections to creating digital outfits from scratch. Then minting them as Fashion NFTs, allowing collectors to wear them in augmented reality via their app.
Talking about fashion in the metaverse, it is flexible as it can adjust itself into all three categories in some way.
Finally, last but not the least, SUSTAINABILITY.
The idea of the Metaverse reshaping the future of fashion is a lot more serious and real. As per a recent study, clothing existing solely in the digital world was found to be way more environmentally friendly than its physical counterpart, with the former emitting 97% less CO2 and consuming approximately 3,300 litres of water less per item. Not only that, but there is also data that suggest that by replacing physical samples with digital ones during a company’s design and development phases, it is possible to reduce a brand’s carbon footprint by a whopping 30%.
Going further, using the digital versions of samples can really be useful in the actual process of physical production of the garment. The digital items can be styled, sent over to the buyers, marketed in a digital way, etc. prior to the production of the physical sample which greatly reduces the environmental impact of the lifecycle of that product.
It’s here folks, Digital fashion is Real. Weather to dip a toe into the new era or to just wait and see, Virtual fashion just seems to be a natural product of the times we live in currently.
Real world cities, departmental stores, casinos, virtual fashion shows, you name it! metaverse has it all. It isn’t just a fantasy, it’s a game changer.