The words "fast fashion" in the last decade mainly indicated one thing – cheap garments, usually copied from designs seen on the latest runways, produced by retailers in sweatshop factories located in developing countries. But fashion is a chameleon high on speed, it rapidly transforms, keeping up with cultural and social changes and now there seems to be a new "fast" lane in fashion, invisible, more colourful and visually hyper-exciting - it's the digital space, that intangibible environment where fashion houses and brands are experimenting, launching NFTs, videogame collaborations and events in the metaverse.
The latest one to jump on board is Prada with a collaboration that launched last week with videogame company Ubisoft on its title "Riders Republic".
Available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC, "Riders Republic" is an adrenaline fueled and versatile extreme snowsports title.
Its charm stands in allowing players to perform incredible stunts on skiis, from gliding down beautiful mountains to blasting into the sky and landing on a downhill bike and then rushing past trees and other players. In a nutshell, it allows you to experience the thrill of being in a wicked Winter Olympics game without rules and without ending in hospital with multiple serious injuries.
"Riders Republic" recently got a Prada Linea Rossa makeover: virtual spaces in the videogame were decorated with the brand's Linea Rossa colours and players can now customize their characters with special outfits and sports gear created for the historical Milanese brand.
Players can get three looks - the black and white animal print inspired "Wild Stripes" outfit, the "Camouflage Rock" outfit characterized by a graphic and geometric style, and the brightly coloured "Flame" one that features a high-visibility luminescent effect. Some of the exclusive outfits can be obtained by competing in the Shackdaddy Bandits weekly challenges (the Wild Stripes outfit) or by completing contracts from the in-game Prada sponsor program (the other two outfits) or by challenging other players in a permanent event entitled "Prada Beyond The Line".
Players can also earn more Prada-designed gear - a jumbo bike and freestyle snowmobile and Faction x Prada Linea Rossa skiis – through the sponsor program. In the meantime the Wild Stripes outfit from the previous week will be available to buy in the shop with in-game currency for the remainder of the season and, from next month, there will be a Prada Easter egg awaiting gamers who will have one week to find it and unlock a special reward.
So, is this "totally truesome" as one of the annoying voices says in the game (which is better played with the voice turned off, due to its cringey dialogues…)? Well, on a powerful PC (if you don't have a console), "Riders Republic" can be a truly addictive experience with a very fluid gameplay and stunning views, but you wouldn't certainly expect Miuccia playing it (you would probably imagine her watching a film about alienation with Monica Vitti...).
Yet Prada must have felt the pressure to jump on the videogame bandwagon at some point and, though a title such as "Riders Republic" may be a superficially illogical choice for fans of more classical Prada designs, it is simply logical for one reason: Prada is into sports (it may not be into skiing, but it has always been into sailing: the brand is known for its Luna Rossa sailboat and for being the Title and Presenting Sponsor of the 36th America's Cup).
Besides, the Linea Rossa line is about technology and innovation and features high-performance apparel and "Riders Republic" is about the same things, it is indeed an outdoor sports playground (albeit a digital one...) that allows to experiment with extreme sports. This is the first time Prada collaborates with a videogame branding skins and items for the players (in 2008 it designed costumes for Shinji Aramaki's mecha anime Appleseed: Ex Machina, which makes Prada one of the first fashion houses that actually collaborated with a videogame...) and we can expect more investments and activations towards this direction, after all the gaming industry was strengthened by the pandemic.
When Covid-19 first hit us all in 2020, the gaming industry saw its revenues skyrocketing, with many of us buying consoles or playing online videogames not just to take our minds off Coronavirus, but to feel more connected with other people and players.
Since then collaborations have multiplied and Gucci went from The North Face collaboration collection for Pokémon Go at the beginning of last January to releasing last November a limited-edition Xbox by Gucci. Celebrating the fashion house's centennial and the 20th anniversary of the Xbox, the collaboration consisted in 100 numbered sets, each comprising a black Xbox Series X console laser-engraved with the GG pattern, two wireless controllers featuring the iconic Gucci stripe and a hard case inspired by Gucci's archival luggage with the words "GOOD GAME" on the bottom (a pun between Guccio Gucci's initials and the popular gamers' acronym indicating the end of a great online multiplayer contest).
After releasing the Aria NFT last year that wasn't particularly original nor exciting, Gucci moved onto a a three-part NFT collaboration with Superplastic, creator of animated celebrities and digital vinyl toys.
Dubbed SUPERGUCCI, the collaboration was launched at the beginning of February with ten exclusive NFTs and accompanying handcrafted 8-inch tall white ceramic sculptures made in Italy (makes sense as Alessandro Michele is also creative director at Richard Ginori).
In the first NFT release available to purchase in Ether (EHT) in a limited edition of 500 items (check them on OpenSea), the main character of the collection, SuperJanky (inspired by Superplastic's artists Janky & Guggimon) is integrated in Gucci Aria scenarios.
The problem with the NFT frenzy is that it is getting fast and faster and that it risks of generating questionable works. While Gucci seems to have improved by turning to Superplastic (even though you wish there were more characters in different poses rather than the same one on a variety of backgrounds...), the first collection of NFTs by Neil Barrett makes you wonder if we are just producing a pile of useless digital items rather tha exclusive artworks.
Minted on the Museum of Digital Art (Moda) from 19th February, the first batch of Neil Barrett's NFTs is entitled "Ancient Sculpture Hybrids" and features three NFT designs, each available in a limited run of 10 pieces.
The NFTs are inspired by Barrett's archives and feature Roman and Greek sculptures heads of Augustus and Caesar (a reference to Barrett's S/S 2015 designs that featured prints of sculptures) combined with sections of Star Wars' Darth Vader's helmet and a digitally distorted double-headed Hercules head.
It is perfectly fine to look at your personal archive like Barrett did, but adding Darth Vader's helmet may land the brand in one of those copyright infringement litigations you don't want to have anything to do with: permission should have been asked to Disney to use the image (well let's hope they did so...), after all this does not fall into the parody category, but it is conceived as a "serious" arty collectible product. We'll see what happens if Barrett didn't ask for permission, but, for the time being, fashion houses and brands should start thinking how to make more clever NFTs and digital products.
We are still at the beginning of the NFT mania, but the fashion industry is moving at hyper-speed to create these collectible items, so wear your digital helmet and get down the slopes in "Riders Republic" or brace yourself for the NFT battle, it will be long and visually exciting (and it will probably lead us to some intriguing legal battles along the way...).
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