Last November a research note from Morgan Stanley announced that the Metaverse gaming and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) could represent a revenue opportunity of 50 billion euros for the luxury market by 2030. That would constitute 10 per cent of the total addressable market.
In the last two years we have seen luxury goods companies expanding into gaming and metaverse platforms: Covid-19 and the various lockdowns helped pushing things towards the digital world and brands quickly realised there are profits to make in this intangible space. While some brands may not be ready yet for this tech leap, others have so far found it easier to explore these new technologies also thanks to their brand demographics: Gucci, for example, opened a virtual pop-up on metaverse platforms Roblox and Zepeto, but also brands such as Nike and Vans, opened permanent spaces in Roblox.
The potential of the Metaverse in fashion may become clearer after the first Fashion Week on Metaverse (MVFW) that will kick off in March on Decentraland, a decentralised virtual world software where virtual plots of lands can be bought and sold, built on the Ethereum blockchain.
The event (24th - 27th March), organized in cooperation with UNXD, a Polygon luxury marketplace that hosted Dolce & Gabbana's premier NFT collection, will feature quite a few global brands and Decentraland users will be allowed to take part in a variety of immersive experiences - from watching the runways and going to after parties, to buying and wearing digital clothing seen on the runways or discussing the experience with other avatars. There will also be showrooms, stores, talks and music sessions during the event.
Most MVFW events will be open-access, but in some cases, you may need VIP access or front-row seats. People joining MVFW may buy a digital item (probably a mix of functional and fantastical, so expect ordinary pieces and more extravagant costume-like designs) in the form of NFTs and wear it immediately on their avatar in Decentraland (the platform already allows users to show off their NFTs as wearables - users can for example turn their CryptoPunk or Bored Ape NFTs into the head of their avatars).
But it will also be possible to sell the item bought, keep it or redeem the NFT to receive the physical version of that garment (available only in some cases). While MVFW is open to anybody, if you want to shop, you will need an Ethereum wallet.
For the time being there isn't a complete list of brands that will take part in the event (though organizers say there are some established luxury houses and up-and-coming names as well), but among the others Hugo (formerly Hugo Boss) will offer the chance to visitors to buy physical designs within the metaverse.
Decentraland's MVFW is an experimental trial of this technology, but fashion houses will have to be quick and organize themselves if they want to be part of it: those who are serious about it have already bought virtual plots of land on the platform where a virtual "Fashion Street District" (a 6,090-square-foot virtual lot) is currently being built.
MVFW is not Decentraland's first big event: in October there was a four-day music festival and the platform reached 500,000 monthly active users last December.
MVFW, like the NFT market, has some pros and cons: people who have these avatars love to update their looks and they want their skins to look on trend, so being part of MVFW may be a bonus for a fashion house or brand, as selling on the platform may mean serious money.
At the same time, some users may not have a pleasant experience on Decentraland because of their computer/connections. Besides, the skins on Decentraland are not photorealistic and this may be disappointing for some brands.
Last but not least, digital assets may not be as democratic as we may think: one thing is to buy skins for a videogame for a few dollars or euros; another is investing large sums of cryptocurrencies on super exclusive luxury fashion NFTs. It may therefore take some time before MVFW becomes popular, yet things are moving fast, so, if you follow fashion or are a fashion commentator, keep an eye on your Metaverse runway and, if you're a designer, start thinking about how these technologies can complement, rather than destroy, your skills.
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