Sneakers invented in a virtual world that take shape in the real world, designers who test clothes on avatars before making them: the metaverse asserts itself as a place of experimentation, meeting consumers.
In recent months, a growing number of brands have sought to establish a presence in these digital universes that everyone is talking regarding, from Roblox to Fortnite, while waiting for the one promised by Meta / Facebook, for fear of missing a major technological shift.
And some are already thinking of coming back with, under the arm, concepts and designs orientedby users, to decline them physically.
“In real life, everything is extremely expensive to make any product,” explains couturier Julien Fournié. “We might be wrong, those are huge bets. A pair of glasses, a bag, you put it in the shops and you don’t know if it’s going to work.”
The metaverse is “an open place to test things virtually and to recreate an extremely precise link with the experience in real life”.
The use that Internet users make of what brands offer them in the metaverse, their choices, their tastes, offer a wealth of information.
This is part of a basic trend, that of the use of data collected online, “to create better collections, make more accurate production forecasts,” says Achim Berg, partner at the firm McKinsey.
The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the rapprochement between virtual and real by pushing many designers to create in three dimensions, for lack of being able to meet in the same place, while a good part of the fashion community was still working flat until here, emphasizes the consultant.
The model created in 3D can therefore live more easily on both sides of the screen, digitally or physically.
– Quantify demand –
At the end of February 2021, the RTFKT studio launched, with the Seattle artist Fewocious, in a limited series, 621 pairs of virtual sneakers with their NFT, a tamper-proof digital property certificate.
One of the original aspects of the operation was to match every pair sold that day with real shoes, which buyers might pick up six weeks later.
“We believe that this emotional connection with physical objects is still important and can strengthen the attachment” to digital products, said to the Wall Street Journal, Benoît Pagotto, one of the founders of RTFKT, acquired by the giant Nike in December. .
The Aglet app, which mixes virtual sneakers and augmented reality, has created its own shoes, the Telga, alongside heavyweights Adidas or Reebok.
She now plans to make real sneakers, announces Ryan David Mullins, its managing director.
He claims that the first batch of 500 copies has already been sold before production even begins.
“When you can quantify the demand on these platforms,” he says, “it’s easier to create an outlet in the physical world, by having more data on how much to manufacture.”
Aglet works with young designers who can “start building their brand” on the platform, and then, if the demand is there, “make the transition” to reality.
– The real becomes accessory –
Another variation of the metaverse is the high-end fashion platform Farfetch, which in August launched a formula that allows you to pre-order Balenciaga, Off-White or Dolce & Gabbana items that are, as they are, only lines. code, a fantasy.
The site collaborated with the DressX studio, which designs virtual clothes, in order to achieve a rendering that is as convincing as possible.
The parts are actually manufactured in the workshop only on the basis of pre-orders. The formula is especially attractive for high-end brands, more than for ready-to-wear behemoths.
It also has for it to meet certain expectations of the time, namely to avoid, as much as possible, overproduction and unsold products, and thus offer a more eco-responsible approach.
Not all are convinced by the interest of physically making the creations of the Metaverse concrete.
“Digital pieces can be worn, collected and traded in the Metaverse, so there is no need for a physical equivalent,” says The Manufacturer, a virtual fashion house.
This Dutch company still takes a positive view of the permeability between the two universes, “when individuals transpose the aesthetics of the virtual world into their physical life”.
“In the end, what matters is desire,” says Achim Berg. “If something is desirable in this (virtual) space, why shouldn’t it be in another?”
