From February 10th to 13th, the first part of Digital Fashion Week New York (DFWNY) took place, where creatives from the fashion and tech industries met to exchange views on the developments that are forming the avant-garde of the digital fashion movement .
DFWNY – not to be confused with the digital twist on classic New York fashion week – was a mix of physical and digital events and panels, offering attendees the opportunity to immerse themselves in a new digital event, showcasing the innovative work of the fashion industry that explores the boundaries of the metaverse.
This new space, the Metaverse, offers brands and designers the opportunity to use the latest technology to realize their creative visions and connect with their potential clientele.
At DFWNY, attendees were able to participate through two different platforms: V-Gather, a virtual platform based entirely on 3D environments offering immersive experiences, and Queendom.io, another virtual space hosting the 22nd edition of the Metaverse fashion show participating digital designers should take place. However, the technology behind this hyper-realistic virtual world encountered technical difficulties over the weekend. Access to the Metaverse fashion shows was severely restricted due to a lack of GPU servers needed to load the animated and highly complex digital garments for an interactive experience. This meant that the presentation of the digital creations had to be postponed to February 24th.
The part of the DFWNY that could take place as planned were the panel discussions with experts from the industry and the workshops, which are intended to train a new generation of digital fashion designers. An overarching fact that emerged from the discussions was that although digital fashion has gained tremendous momentum lately, it is still in its infancy.
The technology itself has yet to be perfected and made available to the general public. There is still a huge gap between the innovators who are at the forefront of this digital revolution and the public who have yet to understand this new development. This learning process will ultimately determine the success and longevity of these immersive digital environments.
As discussed at the panel discussion “A 360 view of fashion: Innovations that Influence Fashion now”, the signs are very promising that big brands are starting to move into the metaverse. Although many brands have made some very successful projects in a virtual environment with significant investments, these are often one-off projects with no intention of large-scale or long-term use of the technology. However, reports such as last year’s Snapchat Global AR Report have also shown that an immersive experience leads to increased customer retention. The main problem right now is the number of people that can be reached. At this point in time, digital environments do not attract large crowds. The technology itself is still the main draw for those who engage in the Metaverse out of interest in virtual, immersive environments, rather than the products showcased there.
However, big tech companies are working to change that and make the Metaverse more enjoyable for the masses – and the potential for growth is huge. For example, digital art in the form of NFTs has only recently emerged. Although only a tiny fraction of the population has purchased digital artworks — only about 2 percent of people in the US — the digital art market has grown to over $41 billion in 2021. With major companies like Meta (formerly known as Facebook) making significant investments to integrate 3D technologies into their platforms, it seems only a matter of time before immersive experiences and digital fashion go mainstream.
Getting Started with Metaverse Integration
Small steps toward this goal are already underway, from digital sampling offerings that allow customers to try on clothes digitally before purchasing the physical pieces, to purely digital creations by designers available as NFTs . For now, the digital experience is still largely based on the “traditional” e-commerce model. Although people have the opportunity to shop in a virtual space and try on digital samples, they still end up buying a physical garment.
As Brandlab 360’s Dan O’Connell puts it, the current e-commerce model is outdated and needs to be adapted to people’s modern needs, while at the same time generating revenue for the brands. He argues against the widespread belief that you have to start by digitizing your product: “The basic point is that consumers spend more time in immersive experiences than when they visit the online shop for the first time. They are far less likely to get distracted or leave things in open tabs or shopping carts. So I think the basic starting point is to shift the platforms that people use to access offers.”
As far as the sale of purely digital garments is concerned, the technology and the customers themselves seem to be not there yet. In another presentation, “Unlimited Possibilities: Where are we today and what does the future of digital fashion look like?” the panel explored the possibilities presented by the Metaverse. The diverse application possibilities of this new digital world are only slowly opening up to the various brands and users. The conclusion: what we as an industry have not yet grasped is the absolute lack of borders. Yes, it is possible to completely duplicate an existing retail space in a digital environment, but why would we do that when the possibilities are literally endless?
The Metaverse itself is still fragmented. The goal must therefore be to form a digital unit. The digital clientele is still constrained by the various non-interacting platforms. As explained in all four panels, but especially in the one called “Fashion x Games”, the development of digital fashion is still largely connected to the games industry, as it was one of the early pioneers of the movement. So far, neither inside nor outside of this game world has there been a seamless, uniform metaverse experience in which visitors could move freely with their own digital avatar. At the moment, the majority of digital-only fashion sales are confined to the specific gaming environment where customers are donning their in-game avatar rather than their own digital likeness. This also means that the clothing items purchased in one game cannot be carried over to another game or reality, but are restricted to the confines of the game. One of the events that took place during Digital Fashion Week was that of Modern Mirror, one of the sponsoring companies of the event. It offered to create 3D body images of the visitors, which can later be used in the metaverse. A first step to reduce the gap between the virtual world and consumers.
Overall, the panels and workshops underscored the fact that digital fashion is still in its infancy. Despite enormous progress, the arena of digital fashion is still dominated by the innovators and early adopters involved, as the topics of the panels and workshops made clear.
This article was previously published on FashionUnited.uk. Translation and editing: Barbara Russ.