Online platforms, which are the forerunners of the Metaversum vision for the future of the internet, are already serving as workspaces for the development of products destined for sale in real life.
From sneakers designed in the virtual world but produced in the real world, to designers trying clothes on avatars before they start tailoring, the line between digital and physical is becoming increasingly blurred.
“In real life, it’s extremely expensive to make a product,” says French couture designer Julien Fournié, who runs his own eponymous fashion house. Online is “a place of open-mindedness that allows you to test things virtually and then make a clear connection to real life,” he added.
The frenzy of virtual goods is coming with feverish predictions that the Metaverse—a virtual-real version of the Internet—will eventually replace today’s Web.
In recent months, more and more brands have been striving to be present on the hot platforms from Roblox to Fortnite for fear of missing out on an important technological and societal shift.
The way users interact with online goods – what they engage in and what they ignore – offers a relatively low-risk and cost-effective way for companies to develop products.
It’s part of a fundamental trend to leverage data collected online “to build better collections and make better predictions,” according to Achim Berg, partner at management consultancy McKinsey & Company.
The coronavirus pandemic has helped close the gap between virtuality and reality, motivating many designers to create designs in a three-dimensional way because they could not meet physically, the management consultant added.
An opportunity for budding designers
In late February 2021, studio RTFKT, along with Seattle artist FEWOCiOUS, launched a limited edition of 621 pairs of virtual sneakers via NFTs – digital items that can be bought and sold using blockchain technology.
One aspect of the promotion was to match each digital pair of shoes sold that day with a physical pair for buyers to collect six weeks later.
“We believe that emotional attachment to physical objects is still important and can strengthen attachment to digital products,” said Benoit Pagotto, one of the founders of RTFKT, which was launched in December giant Nike was taken over, the Wall Street Journal.
The Aglet app, which combines virtual sneakers and augmented reality, has developed its Telga shoes in a similar way to heavyweights Adidas or Reebok.
Real sneakers are now to be made as well, said the company’s CEO, Ryan David Mullins, noting that the first batch of 500 pairs was sold before production even started.
“Once you can quantify demand within these platforms, it’s much easier to build the distribution channel into the physical world to manufacture them,” he added.
Aglet noted that the company is starting to work with younger designers, for whom the entry-level costs of building your own physical brand can be a little too high. “Getting started with virtual design is a lot easier,” he said.
Another twist on online growth is high-end fashion platform Farfetch, which in August launched a feature that allows pre-ordering Balenciaga, Off-White or Dolce & Gabbana items that are only available digitally.
The site has partnered with studio DressX, which designs virtual clothing to create the most convincing likeness possible. The pieces are then made in the workshop only after pre-orders, which is more appealing to high-end brands rather than the big ready-to-wear manufacturers .This way of working can also help to avoid overproduction and unsold goods, which have become a point of criticism due to the environmental damage they cause. However, not everyone is convinced of the vision of turning the digital into something tangible.
“Digital pieces can be worn, collected and traded in the metaverse, so there’s no need for physical counterparts,” according to The Fabricant, a virtual fashion house. The Dutch company still sees the permeability between the two worlds as a good thing, provided People are choosing to “bring the aesthetics of the virtual world into their physical lives”.
“Ultimately, it’s about desirability,” says management consultant Berg. “If it’s desirable in this (virtual) space, why shouldn’t it be desirable in another space?”
This article was previously published on FashionUnited.uk. Translation and editing: Karenita Haalck