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Digital Fashion Special
How fashion retail is more personalised, sustainable, and immersive in digital settings
Emma Ridderstad, co-founder and CEO of Warpin Media, explains how fashion brands can make use of the endless creativity in building virtual meeting points.
By ERIK SEDIN
10 May 2022

Introducing the forerunners of the new digital fashion industry. In this 16-part special, we list the most exciting designers, brands, and platforms that are helping our digital selves to get dressed to progressThis is part 8.

Emma Ridderstad, the self-claimed queen of the metaverse, has been keeping an eye on VR and AR from early. Warpin Media helps organisations incorporate impactful and innovative virtual and artificial reality content, as well as building the different metaverse meeting points, like stores and training facilities. 

— In 2019, we worked with H&M at their Haijuku store in Tokyo, where we launched a pilot that allowed shoppers to design their own Star Wars-themed clothing items in AR — using Magic Leap technology — before printing the garments on the spot. This project was a taste of the future of fashion: a more personalised, sustainable and immersive sector, Emma says. 

AR shopping at the H&M Haijuku store in Tokyo.

How do you imagine the shopping ­experience will be inside the metaverse?

— Shopping in the metaverse will be a fun and seamless experience, where shoppers can engage with products in a wholly new and different way. Some products will be digital-only and others will be physical. Users will be able to touch and try products in the way that consumers do in brick-and-mortar shops, without having to physically visit store locations. This new level of accessibility will save people time, travel costs, and allow them to ­socially distance, whilst shopping alone or with friends in virtual spaces.

— This means that retail supply chains will be simplified, reducing both costs and emissions. Immersive tech will play a long-term role in making the fashion industry less of a burden on our climate.

When designing a virtual fashion store, what is important to have in mind for the customer experience? 

— Retailers need to consider the extent of what will be possible without the limitations of 2d spaces and to explore new and interesting ways to communicate their brands and products. Many companies are already taking advantage of the fact that they can reduce work-related injuries by as much as 43 % training in vr, keeping the workforce four times more focused than with traditional e-learning schemes and 27 % more emotionally engaged. We ­already see a mixture of digital and physical in music, art, and fashion — creative industries that are embracing all the possibilities that vr and ar can offer. Today, you can design a garment in ar that suits your look, print it in the physical world, and then walk out of the shop moments later wearing your new outfit. When you get home, you can make it come alive all over again in ar through your phone, Emma concludes. 

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