When a digital version of a Gucci bag sold in May for more than US$4,100 ― more than the physical version would have cost – many journalists started writing about the inevitable rise of digital fashion. While digital fashion is rooted in gaming, the pandemic has made it increasingly mainstream. The crisis disrupted the fashion industry to its core and forced brands to figure out new ways of connecting with customers – especially in digital-only environments. However, the idea for “virtual fashion” materialised in 2018, when clothing brand Carlings released an entirely virtual clothing line and experienced a boom in business during the COVID-19 pandemic. People have been putting on digital accessories through social media filters for years, and the gaming skins market-where players of games like Fortnite purchase custom outfits, or “skins,” for their avatars-is estimated to be a multibillion-dollar industry.
We suggest that brands can turn digital fashion into a reputation edge by using the metaverse to connect with hard-to-reach audiences, making sustainability a key brand attribute and fixing fashion’s diversity and inclusion problem.Our analysis found that the most influential companies in the media debate included luxury houses like Gucci, Burberry and Dolce & Gabbana, sportswear brands like Nike and Adidas, and start-ups such as The Fabricant, RTFKT and DRESSX.As the crisis disrupted the fashion industry to its core and forced brands to figure out new ways of connecting with customers, many fashion houses invested in the emerging digital fashion space.