Exit 2021, and Enter the Metaverse: Where Fashion Is Digital

As 2022 approaches there are new trends that are rising, and variations of reality that are coming to the forefront. The impending year will transform the world as we know it, not just because we have to contend with the coronavirus alternatives, but also due to the oncoming of the metaverse.

In the near future a 3-D virtual world where netizens can interact will become the norm, meaning augmented realities will slowly start to dominate the online universe. Conceptualized and coined by author Neal Stephenson in his 1992 fictional novel Snow Crash, the idea of the metaverse is that lifelike avatars interact in realistic 3-D buildings and virtual realities, according to USA Today.

Since then techpreneurs have been working to make Stephenson’s fantasy an online actuality, succeeding somewhat at the task with creation of Fortnite, Minecraft, Roblox and Meez. Evolving the digital universe to include a combination of virtual reality, technology and augmented reality, summarized as the metaverse, has been on the bucket list of many tech companies for years.

Facebook and Microsoft are both on the ground floor of metaverse development, and according to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg the main features of the metaverse won’t be mainstream until ten years from now. Zuckerberg’s faith in the coming success of the new digital world is apparent now that he has changed his company’s name to Meta, short for metaverse.

Although aspects of the metaverse are prominent now, it is still evolving and will become more advanced over time. 

“In the works for next year: explorable 3D virtual connected spaces for retail and workplaces. The U.S. Army is currently working with Microsoft on an augmented reality Hololens 2 headset for soldiers to train, rehearse and fight in,” according to USA Today.

Fashion and the metaverse intersection is transforming the future of clothing, creating the era of digital fashion. With many spending most of their time online, the desire to have a virtual self that directly represents their actual personhood is increasing amongst internet users. 

Just recently the major designer brand Ralph Lauren opened up a virtual store within the game Roblox, becoming one of the first fashion brands to delve into the metaverse. Other companies like Decentraland are already cashing in on the lucrative nature of the projected $1 trillion dollar worth metaverse by launching their own digital fashion show in March.

Decentraland’s upcoming virtual fashion show caters to a market that is surfacing and being targeted by mainstream big time clothing brands.

“Fashion brands such as Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Balenciaga, and Ralph Lauren have been making inroads into the metaverse. UNXD hosted Dolce & Gabbana’s first NFT clothing collection, and the Collezione Genesi group of nine non-fungible tokens designed by Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana sold for $5.7 million in September,” according to Markets Insider