A Rolling Guide to Metaverse Fashion Week
In an industry first, fashion's first fashion week in the Metaverse is taking place in the virtual world Decentraland, Thursday 24 - Sunday 27 March. Every day, we'll be summing up the highlights.
In an industry first, fashion's first fashion week in the Metaverse is taking place in the virtual world Decentraland, Thursday 24 - Sunday 27 March. Every day, we'll be summing up the highlights.
SHOWstudio- Visit us here in the CashLabs space.
- Panel Discussion: Nick Knight and David Cash on digitising fashion @ 21:00 GMT, Thursday 24 March, CashLabs.
- Fashion film festival@ 15:30 GMT and 22:00 GMT, Thursday 24 March, CashLabs, fourth floor.
Our fashion film festival will run everyday of Metaverse Fashion Week. For Day 1, four films by Nick Knight and SHOWstudio over the years look at the theme of Blended Realities, encompassing a face filter fashion shoot in Face-Off, 3D scanning with Sync and Sweet - made all the way back in 2003 (!), and the glitching, equally tech savvy #asif.
You'll find us inside the CashLabs mixed-media art gallery, alongside artists and designers including Krista Kim x The Fabricant, Karl Lagerfeld x The Dematerialised, Botter Paris and Auroboros. Jump into the lift and find us on the rooftop (fourth floor) for a journey through the history and future of fashion on film, then explore the other levels.
Phillip Plein- Virtual runway show and party, ENTER PLEIN PLAZA.
'Fashion must be democratic and opened to everyone and not only opened to the industry itself', says the designer. The brand takes cryptocurrency as payment in stores and relaunched Plein Sport with a robot at their metaverse-ready fashion show in Milan last month. They also made a $1.4M USD acquisition of a prime metaverse district in Decentraland, developing Plein Plaza, a 120-meter-high virtual skyscraper which houses a Museum of NFT Arts. Thursday night's event launched their first digital capsule collection of outfits. Limited edition, there are up to 10 pieces available per outfit, and the sale was followed by a live DJ set.
The Italian fashion brand Etro hosted a fashion show with a collection that will be wearable physically and digitally, available for purchase in a pop-up store. Etro's signature paisley prints that live forever? Yes please.
Paco Rabanne and Selfridges
Selfridges department store have been using their sprawling retail ground floor in London to double up as an immersive space, introducing AR shopping experiences and exhibitions, such as Universe which focuses on the relationship between the Space Age fashion designer Paco Rabanne and the Op art pioneer Victor Vasarely. Now, they're taking part in Metaverse Fashion Week, staging a virtual space on Decentraland where visitors will find 12 digital dresses from the Paco Rabanne archive as NFTs, drawing on the designer's 1966 12 Unwearable Dresses featuring then novel materials for dressmaking such as metal. Designs references wooden beads from S/S 70, geometric laser discs from S/S 88 and transparent plastic from A/W 96. The brand notes that these materials, still unconventonal in clothing, will often feel even better suited to the virtual world, highlighting the possibilities for digital wearables. 'Through this convergence of material and virtual realms, heritage creations are revived...The project offers an unparalleled opportunity for early adopters and fashion collectors alike to own and virtually wear an historic garment that transcends time', they said in a statement.
MTA (Metaverse Travel Agency) X DRESSX
DRESSX, the digital fashion pioneers who sell and create everything from AR wearables to NFTs, are the co-hosts for Metaverse Fashion Week, and are presenting The MetaLoop, featuring runway shows and afterparties throughout the event.
They've also launched an interactive partnership with MTA to create limited edition Metahelmets with Web 3 agency Kollectiff. Users can create outfits incorporating the AR Metahelmets in the DRESSX app, and will have access to the MTA universe including activations and events.
Anrealage: Long embracing a sci-fi aesthetic, designer Kunihiko Morinaga's S/S 22 show during Paris Fashion Week fused physical and virtual worlds by presenting virtual looks alongside real life looks in a film. No wonder then that they're on the roster this week.
Closing Party: Tribute Brand + ICYKOF @ Friday 25 March, 21:00 GMT
Cyber fashion brand Tribute Brand launched their first digital wearables in a flagship store for the metaverse, with a virtual performance by dj ICYKOF.
Imitation of Christ
Last month, the label pivoted to digital fashion, showing a fully virtual collection which commented on the California wildfires, suggesting how digital fashion can be a more sustainable alternative to physical shows and collections. For Metaverse Fashion Week, they collaborated on NFT jumper dresses with Bored Ape Yacht Club, staged in a virtual store featuring pro-Ukraine banners and 10% of sale profits going towards organisations in Ukraine.
Coach Virtual Tabby Pillow Bag
Digital clothing outfitter Republiqe, founded by James Gaubert, teamed up with the French accessories store Monnier Paris for a virtual pop-up housing digital wearables by brands including Coach for the avatars, which are also available to buy IRL.
The Fabricant fashion show @ Sunday 27 March, 19:00 GMT
The digital fashion house The Fabricant will host a virtual runway show featuring a new collection co-created by their community platform The Fabricant Studio. First minted as NFTs, pieces have been transformed into wearables for the show.
Auroboros and Grimes
The electropop superstar performed virtually on the platform Decentraland to close Metaverse Fashion Week. Drawing influence from the celestial, organic forms of the Biomimicry collection presented last year at London Fashion Week, digital fashion designers Auroboros created a 360 immersive soundscape, featuring a floating stage, light show and AI technology. Grimes, in avatar form, performed in an Auroboros 'Mystique' bodysuit.
