Major luxury fashion houses, such as Karl Lagerfeld, Balenciaga, Louis Vuitton and more, have made their way to the metaverse. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs), virtual fashion collections and “drops” have come to dominate the industry.

But do these luxury fashion brands have a place in the metaverse? Are they embodying the true ethos of inclusivity, accessibility and sustainability the metaverse has ushered in?

Facebook’s recent announcement of its rebrand to Meta sparked mainstream interest in the metaverse.

But these last two years are not the first instances where luxury fashion brands have dabbled in gamification and virtual reality.

In 2015, Louis Vuitton featured Final Fantasy XIII’s pink-haired warrior Lightning as the face of their Spring/Summer 2016 campaign.

Louis Vuitton Creative Director Nicolas Ghesquiére summed up the why this particular character was a good fit for the brand. “Lightning is the perfect avatar for a global, heroic woman and for a world where social networks and communications are now seamlessly woven into our life,” Ghesquiére says.

“She is also the symbol of new pictorial processes. How can you create an image that goes beyond the classic principles of photography and design? Lightning heralds a new era of expression.”

And this was just the beginning.

Balenciaga had a go at creating their own virtual experience called Afterworld: The Age of Tomorrow via an app to reveal their Fall 2021 collection.

In December 2020, the collection was sent to a select few to experience through a VR headset prior to public release.

What made this collection unique was the combination of the video-game platform, model poses and Gen-Z-centric lookbook.

In September 2021, the Karl Lagerfeld brand released NFTs of the former Chanel Creative Director. These managed to sell out in under an hour on NFT marketplace The Dematerialised.

The NFTs came in the form of two mini digital figurines embodying the late Karl Lagerfeld himself.

The first figurine, Ikonic Karl, is a full-colour collectible priced at €77 each. Only 777 were available (Lagerfeld’s lucky number was 7).

And the second, Chromatic Karl, is a more exclusive version of Lagerfeld created with a digital metallic shine. Only 77 of these dropped and were priced at €177 each.

“We expected significant demand for this drop due to the design of the asset, the intangible brand value, and the scarcity of the release,” said The Dematerialised Co-Founder Marjorie Hernandez. “But even we were surprised at the sheer volume and traffic that arrived on the site at the drop time.”

The point is, luxury fashion houses are showing they aren’t immune to change. They aren’t afraid to move beyond the traditional runway shows and magazine edits to showcase their collections.

However, whether their intentions for a more inclusive, sustainable future of fashion through the metaverse are genuine or not remains questionable.

The Business of Fashion and McKinsey & Co released an insightful report called the State of Fashion 2022: An Uneven Recovery and New Frontiers in December 2021. It highlights how fashion houses need to relook at their supply chains in order to become more eco-friendly.

The report further mentions the need for fashion brands to incorporate customer values into their ideation and products.

Consumers are consciously choosing to invest in brands who make a conceited effort towards ensuring ethical manufacturing processes.

Fast fashion is a consumer trend of the past. Many of these brands are being boycotted and falling victim to cancel culture on social media. Right now, it is adapt or die.

Not only does the metaverse look like a promising option to achieve a more environmentally-friendly approach to fashion, but it could also serve as a means for survival in a rapidly disrupted sector.

Supply chains, manufacturing processes, intensive manual labour and freight costs are physically eliminated from producing luxury digital garments.

Digital fashion design software such as MarvelousDesigner, Clo3D, Valentina and Browzwear are allowing creatives to experiment with virtual materials. It has given them the freedom to create outside the constraints of physics in the real world.

It has also taken away the potential waste that comes with sampling. Fashion designers are able to tweak their clothing lines in the virtual world before bringing them into the physical one.

These platforms have further broken down the barriers to entry for independent fashion designers to compete in the luxury sector.

And virtual fashion weeks are doing the same. They are allowing fashion designers, and ordinary people, to indulge in luxury without the sense of elitism and unattainability that is presently offline.

Many virtual fashion weeks have locked in dates for shows, after-parties, panel discussions and the opportunity to shop collections right there and then. This comes hot off the heels of the Spring/Summer 2022 shows taking place in New York, Milan, London and Paris.

Digital Fashion Week New York (DFWKNY) (from 7-11 February 2022 on Queendom.io), Crypto Fashion Week (on 18 March 2022) and Metaverse Fashion Week (from 24-27 March 2022 on Decentraland) are all major meta fashion events that need to be added to the digital diary.

This is a chance for up-and-coming fashion designers to make a name for themselves. And, it will be make or break for more traditional luxury fashion brands.

Now is the time to see how much of the traditional rules of the fashion world transfer to the digital one. How will models be chosen and what will they look like? Who will be sitting FROW? What access will be like for after parties?

Luxury fashion has indeed been disrupted by the metaverse. By how much, time will soon tell.

Major luxury fashion houses, such as Karl Lagerfeld, Balenciaga, Louis Vuitton and more, have made their way to the metaverse. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs), virtual fashion collections and “drops” have come to dominate the industry.

But do these luxury fashion brands have a place in the metaverse? Are they embodying the true ethos of inclusivity, accessibility and sustainability the metaverse has ushered in?

Facebook’s recent announcement of its rebrand to Meta sparked mainstream interest in the metaverse.

But these last two years are not the first instances where luxury fashion brands have dabbled in gamification and virtual reality.

In 2015, Louis Vuitton featured Final Fantasy XIII’s pink-haired warrior Lightning as the face of their Spring/Summer 2016 campaign.

Louis Vuitton Creative Director Nicolas Ghesquiére summed up the why this particular character was a good fit for the brand. “Lightning is the perfect avatar for a global, heroic woman and for a world where social networks and communications are now seamlessly woven into our life,” Ghesquiére says.

“She is also the symbol of new pictorial processes. How can you create an image that goes beyond the classic principles of photography and design? Lightning heralds a new era of expression.”

And this was just the beginning.

Balenciaga had a go at creating their own virtual experience called Afterworld: The Age of Tomorrow via an app to reveal their Fall 2021 collection.

In December 2020, the collection was sent to a select few to experience through a VR headset prior to public release.

What made this collection unique was the combination of the video-game platform, model poses and Gen-Z-centric lookbook.

In September 2021, the Karl Lagerfeld brand released NFTs of the former Chanel Creative Director. These managed to sell out in under an hour on NFT marketplace The Dematerialised.

The NFTs came in the form of two mini digital figurines embodying the late Karl Lagerfeld himself.

The first figurine, Ikonic Karl, is a full-colour collectible priced at €77 each. Only 777 were available (Lagerfeld’s lucky number was 7).

And the second, Chromatic Karl, is a more exclusive version of Lagerfeld created with a digital metallic shine. Only 77 of these dropped and were priced at €177 each.

“We expected significant demand for this drop due to the design of the asset, the intangible brand value, and the scarcity of the release,” said The Dematerialised Co-Founder Marjorie Hernandez. “But even we were surprised at the sheer volume and traffic that arrived on the site at the drop time.”

The point is, luxury fashion houses are showing they aren’t immune to change. They aren’t afraid to move beyond the traditional runway shows and magazine edits to showcase their collections.

However, whether their intentions for a more inclusive, sustainable future of fashion through the metaverse are genuine or not remains questionable.

The Business of Fashion and McKinsey & Co released an insightful report called the State of Fashion 2022: An Uneven Recovery and New Frontiers in December 2021. It highlights how fashion houses need to relook at their supply chains in order to become more eco-friendly.

The report further mentions the need for fashion brands to incorporate customer values into their ideation and products.

Consumers are consciously choosing to invest in brands who make a conceited effort towards ensuring ethical manufacturing processes.

Fast fashion is a consumer trend of the past. Many of these brands are being boycotted and falling victim to cancel culture on social media. Right now, it is adapt or die.

Not only does the metaverse look like a promising option to achieve a more environmentally-friendly approach to fashion, but it could also serve as a means for survival in a rapidly disrupted sector.

Supply chains, manufacturing processes, intensive manual labour and freight costs are physically eliminated from producing luxury digital garments.

Digital fashion design software such as MarvelousDesigner, Clo3D, Valentina and Browzwear are allowing creatives to experiment with virtual materials. It has given them the freedom to create outside the constraints of physics in the real world.

It has also taken away the potential waste that comes with sampling. Fashion designers are able to tweak their clothing lines in the virtual world before bringing them into the physical one.

These platforms have further broken down the barriers to entry for independent fashion designers to compete in the luxury sector.

And virtual fashion weeks are doing the same. They are allowing fashion designers, and ordinary people, to indulge in luxury without the sense of elitism and unattainability that is presently offline.

Many virtual fashion weeks have locked in dates for shows, after-parties, panel discussions and the opportunity to shop collections right there and then. This comes hot off the heels of the Spring/Summer 2022 shows taking place in New York, Milan, London and Paris.

Digital Fashion Week New York (DFWKNY) (from 7-11 February 2022 on Queendom.io), Crypto Fashion Week (on 18 March 2022) and Metaverse Fashion Week (from 24-27 March 2022 on Decentraland) are all major meta fashion events that need to be added to the digital diary.

This is a chance for up-and-coming fashion designers to make a name for themselves. And, it will be make or break for more traditional luxury fashion brands.

Now is the time to see how much of the traditional rules of the fashion world transfer to the digital one. How will models be chosen and what will they look like? Who will be sitting FROW? What access will be like for after parties?

Luxury fashion has indeed been disrupted by the metaverse. By how much, time will soon tell.