Luxury fashion brands turn to games to attract new buyers

“The pandemic accelerated the main visibility of these influential subcultures,” says Benoit Pagotto, one of the three founders. RTFKT Studios, virtual shoe suppliers and NFT collections. The latest virtual sneaker made with Fewocious has raised more than $ 3 million.

Some of the more adventurous luxury fashion brands are already experimenting with immersion games, e.g. Balenciaga’s retro video game Afterworld: Tomorrow, which the brand has released to showcase its 2021 fall collection. Praised as an example of an industry that works beautifully together in fashion and play. Afterworld The player dives into the brand identity using the three-dimensional capture and Epic’s Unreal Engine.

The move caught the attention of buyers. According to figures from the Lyst shopping app, he recently looked at the rise of digital fashion report With Fabricant, Balenciaga released the game 48 hours later, Lyst’s brand searches rose 41 percent. In the new quarterly Lyst Index, Balenciaga came in second, up from the previous quarter in the quarterly rankings.

“Gamification will affect many things, but there is a noticeable application in fashion. Fashion means that you should be able to express yourself and experiment with this playful field “, Michaela Larosse, head of content and strategy manufacturer, dio.

Gaming and fashion also go hand in hand, as both aim to offer fans a world of greater experiences than life. As anyone who has attended a Paris fashion show can be sure of, this is a great show, like the best theatrical performance, with a fascinating narrative that often appears in every element of the show. Capturing that energy in a game will surely spark the interests of consumers. When Drest in the film he collaborated with Warner Bros. Wonder Woman 1984, made up of players who use the costumes from the movie to dress up avatars. The users were so well received that more than half of all users saw or intended to watch the film, according to the feedback given by customers after the campaign.

“I think technology should be like fashion’s best friend. It’s like a magic wand that can bring you closer to the consumer, allowing the consumer to be a part of your storytelling, ”says Yeomans.

In his view, the game not only allows fashion brands to make a “deep immersion” but also protects luxury brands, allowing them to maintain messaging, iconography and integrity.

From ‘Phygital’ to Digital Pure

Since most purchases are made online today, it has become a retail experience, with brands and stores aiming to attract customers as brand enthusiasts, not just shoppers. This means that it is “physical”, a marketing term that describes the desire to combine the physical store with the entirety of the digital experience.

Most of the collaborations between fashion games offer customers the opportunity to get a physical outfit, as an exclusive limited edition piece that appears in the game. In the case Drest, the garments can be purchased through the website Farfetch. Some younger players use it as a way to put “style in before you buy”.

“We have developed this concept of RVR from virtual to real. Everything you see is part of real life, so if we’re collaborating with Prada, it’s part of the capsule collection that’s being marketed and downloaded in stores, ”says Yeomans.

“We know that these experiences increase life time, make consumers feel more connected to the brand and value physical products more. We are certainly entering a whole new era of retail experience,” explained Matthew Drinkwater, head of Fashion Innovation Agency At London College of Fashion, he warns that these principles are also beginning to have an impact on traditional ecommerce.