Fashion in Gaming: Choose Your Fighter
At a glance, it may seem that the fashion and gaming industries are worlds apart. However, by closer investigation, you may find that the two have more common ground than one would initially think. In fact, if you think about it, both explore elements of escapism, allowing for characterisation, proposing avant-garde ideas for individuals to quite literally step up their game. And though the connection between thes two was born before the pandemic, it was the latter that intensified their relationship. The future of fashion therefore seems to detach itself more and more from the big catwalks and closer to digital districts, demonstrating how the fashion industry has established new relationships in response to the widespread of COVID-19, but also to the current generation of Gen Z consumers. 2022 has so far proven that this partnership has built a buzzing new playground for gamers to immerse themselves in, as a multitude of fashion and gaming collaborations are taking the virtual world by a storm.
Here are some examples:
Gucci has joined forces with an abundance of games such as Roblox, League of Legend, Animal Crossing, The Sims and Pokémon Go, all within the timeframe of a year, to remodel its runway looks digitally.
Louis Vuitton is another luxury fashion brand that is not new to these digital experiences, having collaborated with Riot Games to launch a capsule collection for League of Legends, which players can use as skins for their characters.
Balenciaga presented their FW21 collection through a video game set in 2031, entitled, Afterworld: The Age of Tomorrow.
Burberry introduced B-Surf, a surf competition game that celebrates the TB (Thomas Burberry) Summer Monogram collection. How it works? Players must select a surfboard and dress their character in clothes from the Burberry TB Summer Monogram collection, before challenging their friends to race on a TB-shaped track.
The Polish brand MISBHV collaborated with Grand Theft Auto to create a series of streetwear garments.
Vogue featured Gigi Hadid in her avatar form, set in a glamorous pixel world in which she has to overcome a series of challenges, in order to gain some fabulous fits.
The gaming phenomenon has also conquered Chiara Ferragni, who released her own game called Rescue Matilda. The video game sees a digital version of the influencer, intent on overcoming a series of obstacles in order to rescue her French bulldog, Matilda. The looks presented on her character can be bought on her namesake brand’s website.
Ultimately, the gaming industry offers profitable ways to reach new audiences and by collaborating with the fashion industry, it explores further possibilities for both, that fashion cannot achieved in the physical world. The collision of these two cultures has opened a door to an entirely new experience, perhaps even a new culture of its own. The intersection between fashion and gaming has birthed a new and diversified way of consumption, a new point of assembly between brand and consumer. But with the interaction of fashion and gaming, and the sharing of one market between two diverse backgrounds, it calls to question: which aspects from each can continue in their merger? Is there space for them both to remain the same?
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