Meta will roll out an ‘Avatars Store’ for Instagram and Facebook later this week, allowing users to purchase virtual clothing for their avatars. The first brands offered for sale include Balenciaga, Prada and Thom Browne, the company announced on Tuesday.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg tweeted an image of the announcement, showing his own avatar and that of Eva Chen, Instagram’s vice president of fashion partnerships, wearing looks by the designers. Earlier this year, Meta launched avatar technology on the social networks owned by Meta. So far, there have been a number of free outfits to dress up the digital characters, but Meta sees great potential in the individualizing role of fashion – because both in the real world and in digital spaces, people strive to change their appearance and appearance adjust their personality. “We facilitate this evolution by constantly offering new options that reflect the latest fashion trends, and by offering more outfits from fashion, sports and lifestyle brands over time,” writes the company.
In a live stream on Instagram, Zuckerberg and Chen talked about the potential of fashion in the Metaverse and the possibilities it is creating for fashion companies. Chen announced that in the future the Avatars Store will also be a contact point for up-and-coming designers in addition to the well-known brands.