New York and London Fashion Week may be a sacred series of events for the traditional fashion industry, but this season we’ve been a bit more screen-reliant than before. Both major and up-and-coming brands, creative studios and events decided to explore the digital fashion scene via the metaverse and beyond.
Tommy Hilfiger
Through the immersive Tommy Factory, Tommy Hilfiger showcased his upcoming collection with an experimental installation for guests to see both physically and digitally. Red, white and blue were featured on the runway with a TH monogram print popping up on quite a few looks. The digital collection was available for live streaming on both the gaming platform Roblox and the brand’s website. The idea behind the creative space was to bring forward creativity and self-expression during fashion week.
PUMA
For New York Fashion Week, sneaker brand Puma presented a new digital initiative and metaverse experience Black Station, at its Futrograde show. The idea was to have exclusive and limited edition NFTs amongst other digital experiences for the rest of 2022. The Nitro NFRNO and Fastroid sneaker were featured in a few sporty looks during the show. Black Station offers guided tours and allows the visitor to purchase limited NFTs and thereafter redeem them for a physical shoe.
Nolcha
The Nolcha Shows event took place for several days during fashion week in New York. The main purpose was to bring together emerging designers and allow them to showcase their collections to the world. This year they also hosted virtual reality and physical events for guests to view exclusive NFTs and take part in connecting to Web3 communities. The physical event took place at the World Trade Center where Nolcha had panel discussions on topics such as Luxury in the Metaverse and The Fashion Metaverse Economy.
Jens Laugesen
Danish designer Jens Laugesen teamed up with Hong Kong-based digital collective Virtual Touch on a project named META\SENS, supported by the Danish Arts Foundation. The META\SENS viewing in London was the second act in a trilogy between the creatives, and the show allowed viewers to enter a virtual reality world in order to see the 3D collection. Laugesen’s idea was to create a hybrid space of couture draping techniques by designing and developing different 3D methods. The collection was available in two different formats — one was a film and the second was a guided VR tour online where the viewer could click around on the screen in order to see the collection on avatars.
Leo Carlton
Designer brand Leo Carlton showcased their 3D scanned and produced pieces during London Fashion Week. The pieces were created through sculpting in virtual reality and thereafter using 3D scanning and printing with natural and renewable materials. The made-to-measure Masks and Modulars offer the customers the opportunity to be an avatar in reality. The show was a presentation featuring people wearing the sculpted pieces which were head-pieces, smaller bags and body accessories.
Victor Wong
Eyewear designer Victor Wong presented his newest collection Have a WONGderful day, a film that had both avatars and people wearing the eyewear. The virtual pieces had been created by the virtual accessory design studio Formless. The collection, which was shown at London Fashion Week, featured curved shapes against a cleaner silhouette which Wong explains was to mirror the landscapes carved by nature.
— a WONGderful day is truly my happy collection. It draws on my heritage to tell a story for the future about freedom, love and self-acceptance, Wong concluded.
