Brands are flocking to the Metaverse, leveraging their Web3 presence for what is hoped to be the inevitable: when the masses begin to push the new frontier of the digital world and spend their time and money in alternate universes already firmly established there.
Last week, Gucci lifted the curtain on ‘Gucci Town’, a virtual piazza within the Roblox digital world. Powered by Vault, Gucci’s experimental online space, curious people can find new ways to connect with the fashion house, whether by creating digital artworks or entering competitions. The Florentine fashion company is at the forefront of digital experiences, starting with the award-winning digital ‘Gucci Garden’ in 2021.
Vault is an offshoot of Gucci’s presence in the Metaverse, constantly evolving through creative work with the online community. Here, Web3-based things like NFTs can be experienced alongside a curation of rare vintage pieces, exclusive capsule collections, limited-edition styles and other items from a selection of brands handpicked by Gucci’s Creative Director Alessandro Michele.
Digital experiences in the making
True to the Roblox ethos of building connections through shared creative experiences, ‘Gucci Town’ offers a wide range of activities that will evolve over time. In a press release, the Kering-owned brand says it’s trying to break new ground to create meaningful experiences for its community. Products and content were developed hand in hand with independent authors from the Roblox community such as Rook Vanguard, Bunnexhand and Lirn.
Millions flock to Gucci Town
To date, over 18 million visits to ‘Gucci Town’ have been recorded, proving that fashion has an important place in next-generation social media. Other brands follow suit. For example, Tommy Hilfiger created the ‘Tommy Play Space’, which showcases fashion items in collaboration with the Roblox community.
New technological advances like the ‘Layered Clothing System’ allow brands to customize clothing and accessories to fit any avatar body type. Audiences can now outfit existing Roblox avatars with up to six layers of clothing, in addition to any existing classic clothing.
Roblox said that developing a 3D clothing system is about designing a system that not only works with the massive amount of bodies that already exist on the platform today, but also with the creative avatars that exist in the future of the community should arise. The brands are embracing new digital communities and formats, so much so that Tommy Hilfiger employs four digital fashion designers and a development studio for their experiences. Other brands collaborating with Layered Clothing include DRESSX, Puma, Alo Yoga and Forever 21.
This article was previously published on FashionUnited.uk. Translation and editing: Barbara Russ