The first-ever Metaverse Fashion Week: Digital fashion is here to stay

Incredible as it may seem, digital fashion has developed so much that it already needs its own fashion week with all that implies: from the shows and presentations of new collections to public talks and parties with true DJs. The first-ever digital fashion week took place March 23-27 in Decentraland, a decentralized virtual social platform on the Ethereum blockchain.

Previously, Jonathan Simkhai presented his collection in Second Life right before New York Fashion Week. After the show, skins of evening outfits could be purchased at NFT to dress up users’ avatars in Second Life.

Decentraland also held the first full-fledged fashion week in history, lasting five days. On the first day, Selfridges launched a store where NFT of the real exposition currently held in London was presented — the future of Victor Vasarely’s work and the influence he had on his contemporary Paco Rabbane called UNIVERSE. Players can purchase NFT dresses as well as Fondation Vasarely artworks.

The second day

During the second day of the Metaverse Fashion Week (MVFW), there were a lot of panel discussions, modeling workshops, interviews, the UNXD Luxury District opening and mini-games. After all, we are in the gaming space. And, perhaps the most significant parts were two shows by Dolce & Gabbana and Philip Plein, as this is the reason why both gamers and fashionistas paid attention to MVFW.

Decentraland’s graphics immediately prompted questions from many Instagram users who commented on brands’ posts about MVFW. Decentraland was launched in beta in 2017 and many creators questioned the graphic’s quality, working with what they had. Because of the quality, the shows looked ridiculous, forcing brands to only post the images of the skins that could be purchased in-game. For example, Dolce & Gabbana chose cats with glasses and hairstyles as their digital models. Their show was held in a virtual hall with a circular podium and flowers.

Each cat had its own style and the collection echoed the brand’s real show, both in the set design and the presented skins. This season, the D&G’s fans will fall to logomania in the Metaverse and will wear animal print, down jackets, voluminous shoulders and sunglasses, beaming with happiness.

Philipp Plein held his show with a huge skull, noting the brand’s symbol. The skull opened and its tongue uncoiled to present the models walking in the show. The fans of the Philip Plein in this metaverse season are expected to wear luminous glasses or respirator masks, helmets with cat ears, down jackets, wings and bathrobes.

On the brand’s website, prices for skins that were sold just off the runway started at $1,500 for Moon $urfer and went up to $15,000 for Platinum $urfer. These skins come with a special treat: A small skeleton sitting on the shoulder — probably to justify the cost.

After the show, everyone was invited to go to a party where Plein broadcasted himself from home to join the party, bragging on his Instagram stories that his clothes were presented in the Metaverse for the first time. The designer was wearing his brand’s custom skin: a helmet with cat ears. It is clear that the Metaverse fashion adores cats.

Moreover, many brands opened digital boutiques in the Metaverse. In the Luxury District, shoppers could find Dolce & Gabbana and Philip Plein, but also luxury watch boutique Jacob & Co and a shop with Hèrmes Birkin bags. Are there any other ways that would allow you to emphasize your status in the Metaverse, if not a Birkin and a watch?

Jacob & Co launched “Astronomia Metaverso,” a nonfungible token (NFT) collection that includes eight watches, one watch for one planet in the Solar System. “The watches from the five closest planets to the sun (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter) have been…