Snapchat eating Instagram's digital fashion lunch?
Not my best subtitle but it's been a long week.
Welcome back to another riveting week of fashion in the metaverse. For those of you new this week, this newsletter is a curation of the stories happening in the fashion meets NFT meets metaverse meets digital fashion space. I try to pull together themes and ideas more than breaking news since, frankly, there’s “breaking” news in this space every day.
Snapchat is the AR Frontrunner These Days
Here’s a Digiday article on the subject as it pertains to advertisers.
Something I truly don’t understand is why we don’t hear more from Instagram in this space. If Zuckerberg is publicly saying FB will become a metaverse company, why is Snapchat doing all the cool innovations? They’ve launched an AR creator marketplace, so brands (including small, DTC ones) looking to do AR advertising can find the right resources. They’ve done interesting brand tie-ups already, like virtual sneaker try-on. While Instagram has the shopping app and branded filters, seems like they are missing out on being the first mover here. I guess they had other stuff to think about this week, like that whole outage thing…
Selfridges Has a New Foray into the Metaverse.
“My first favorite London department store has a partnership with Pokemon? From their site. “Ever explored the metaverse? To celebrate 25 years of Pokémon, we’ve joined forces with the iconic brand, designer Chawe’veen, and immersive storytelling production house Yahoo RYOT Lab. Together, we’ve built Electric/City – a virtual city inspired by the fashion” capitals of the world – where you can shop exclusive physical and digital garments.” Hoodies with Pikachu on them? OK. Interesting. You can scan codes in the shop and discover prizes. It’s an interesting attempt at making a store more than a store, so that I’m into, but not sure who the Pokemon-focused ideal audience is?
And Yahoo pops up again, after big sponsorships in NYC fashion week, Rebecca Minkoff and that other dude that I’m not even going to go back and look up but who appeared in my office as a hologram and it was… not worth my time.
Dimension Studio - One of The Teams MAKING the Fashion Metaverse Happen
This whole article from Vogue Business is worth reading. From how different brands are dipping their toes in the water, to pricing, this an explosive area in fashion, and clearly expertise like Dimension studios is hot. Obviously, luxury brands are very keyed into brand experiences, being able to create something that is comprehensive aWhat’sue to their brand. Creating entire digital worlds or virtual runway shows ties right into this. What’s the trickle-down effect? In five years will we only see virtual runway shows? Think about both the expense saved AND the complete creative control, untangled from fussy demands such as physics.
Another Vogue Article - Is It Time To Hire A Chief Metaverse Officer?
An article like this cracks me up. Who pitched it? Someone who wants to be chief metaverse officer at a luxury house, presumably. Not that I’d be opposed to the job myself, yaknow. But to think that the metaverse is a c-suite occupation seems crazy to me. It’s clearly a unique opportunity for brands and something that shouldn’t be ignored, but I don’t know if it’s a board-level discussion.
Will I have to abandon my beloved Peloton? While Peloton and other digital workout tools are creating virtual communities, what sets Capti apart is the chance at interoperability. That’s the hot metaverse term for moving goods and identities from platform to platform. Like I can wear my Dolce crown in Roblox and while cycling in my basement in a virtual race. AND it’s gamified. So I’ll be wearing my Dolce crown collecting coins and chasing dragons. Ok, I’m into that. Basically, instead of sitting there like a lump on a log playing video games, you’ll be moving about. I read about this in Ready Player One. I guess it’s all happening now.
Personal note, I can’t find any Instagrams of people wearing, say, that Balmain NFT or the Dolce crown. Maybe my hashtag game isn’t strong enough? Maybe they aren’t sharing? But if not to snap a selfie, why buy a Dolce digital crown, one asks?