The metaverse promises to provide real-world experiences in virtual reality, from concerts to red carpet premieres. Until those become commonplace, you, and your avatar, can still dress for the occasion in the newest digital fashion.
Brands like Gucci, Nike and Ralph Lauren have all released digital collections and limited-edition items through platforms like Roblox, a children’s gaming site that had 49.5 million daily active users spanning 180 countries in Q4 of 2021.During play, customizable avatars can now sport Polo beanies, carry Gucci Dionysus purses or wear the newest Nike sneakers.
One of the largest draws of virtual fashion, especially for the younger user base of Roblox, is the cost: while a Gucci Dionysus bag IRL can cost upwards of $3,400, the bag on Roblox was originally 475 Robux (roughly $5.50). Originally, because as with all limited-edition fashion both IRL and online, scalpers quickly upped the resale price, with one bag going for 350,000 Robux (roughly $4,115, more than the cost of the real bag). Collectors of certain brands have also found the digital collections appealing, with one Ralph Lauren fan and Roblox user able to purchase items that doubled in value the next day, while adding to their own personal stock of items.
Gucci is emerging as the leader in the digital fashion sphere, with the brand encouraging users to personalize their items, such as the Gucci Virtual 25 sneakers that were released in 2020 and allowed users to tweak their shoes within the game. The fashion house is also looking to break into the NFT market, with a Superplastic collaboration announced in January of this year.
Roblox gamer Lana Zylstra, in an interview with the New York Post, spoke about the rise in interest in virtual fashion, admitting that she had spent 10,000 Robux on Gucci items, including perfume, for her avatar. Another, influencer Leah Ashe, bought her and her avatar, NotLeah, matching Gucci Marmont bags, with hers costing $2,100 and her avatar’s costing $2,000 Robux, around $25 USD.
“Whenever NotLeah gets the newest, hottest [accessory], all the other avatars are so jealous,” Ashe explained, “But I like treating her to the finer things.”
Brands and celebrities have found ways to provide immersive online experiences to their fans since the beginning of COVID, from the Gucci Garden that debuted on Roblox in May 2021, coinciding with the real-world opening of the Gucci Garden in Florence, to Travis Scott’s Astroworld concert in Fortnite in 2020. The VR fashion industry itself isn’t anything new: Lil’ Miquela, the “robot influencer,” debuted on Instagram in 2016 and now has a following of over three million and has endorsed fashion brands like Calvin Klein and Prada.
Now that virtual “real estate” is the next horizon, with some brands already looking to open stores on the VR Rodeo Drive, one day we could be flipping through racks on Roblox instead of the mall.
For now, get yourself or the Roblox lover in your life a Gucci bag: this one is 857 Robux (or $10.57).
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