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 get dressed to progress. This is part 3.
Zagreb based Tribute Brand is a high-end fashion brand and tech house that pioneered digital fashion in its official launch in early 2020. Tribute Brand is the world’s first direct-to-consumer digital fashion brand, and the peculiar cyber aesthetic can get professionally fitted onto customers with the TB Premium Fitting Service. When a customer decides to purchase a contactless fashion piece through Tribute Brand’s web store, they will also need to send in a picture of themself on which they want the cyber garment to be professionally fitted by Tribute Brand’s team of CGI 3D modellers, UX designers, and coders.
Regarding the CGI 3D modellers, developers, and coders, have they got experience in physical fashion designing?
— Me and Filip, the head of digital fashion, have a pretty strong background in physical fashion since they’ve previously led a physical clothing brand. The other authors were connected to the fashion industry in more indirect ways. It was important for us that, besides quality technical abilities, the entire team had strong creative values, explains Gala Marija Vrbanic, co-founder of Tribute.
Except for your fitting room service, are you looking to introduce your digital garments to other metaverse platforms?
— Of course, this is the main goal. Actually, Instagram and even Myspace were editions of the metaverse. ”Metaverse” is only a notion that’s just made an entrance into mainstream discourse. But it’s all a part of a virtual world being made. Considering the development of technology, we’re able to create and encounter more immersive experiences within the metaverse. So, yes — this is the reason why we’re creating the garments.
How about other metaverse avatars, like in meetings or Decentraland. Have you been looking into that?
— Yes. Speaking concretely about Decentraland, we even have our flagship store at Metajuku district (which can be found on the coordinates 96,20). This is a place that’s created by somewhat of a merge between video games and metaverse, in the sense that Decentraland is not only metaverse and Fortnite only a video game, rather it all constitutes one space. Time will show which space represents the main domain, and the space of video games that were previously meant exclusively for gaming will slowly become the main source of socialisation. Actually, for many, it already has become this, Marija Vrbanic concludes.
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