I don’t have much time these days for watching TV, but as I was doing my ironing I found out about a new trend that had totally bypassed me: digital fashion. Designer outfits that you wear in your virtual universe only, to live out your fashion dreams and enhance your image online.

It means spending money on clothes that do not actually exist and that you cannot hang in your wardrobe. And you don’t have to wash and iron them. You simply store them in a folder on your hard disk.

For me personally and others of my age, digital fashion is totally new territory and one that I do not see myself venture into. For generation Z and youthful gamers however this is just part of life. Apparently, it all started out with fashion houses creating “skins” for avatars in online games, such as World of Warcraft, or Fortnite. Ralph Lauren for example has been offering digital clothes on Roblox, a video gaming platform. These fetch prices around 5 dollars each, of real money. The model works: a pair of sneakers for your avatar might cost 2 dollars only, but if thousands and thousands of kids buy them, that’s good business. But it is just the sandbox for other things to come.

With the pandemic forcing more and more people into the virtual space, the transition from dressing up your avatar to dressing yourself for your appearance on Facebook or Instagram, or even a business Skype or Zoom call seemed logical, natural almost. After all, the real and the virtual world are becoming inextricably linked, with many people existing in parallel worlds.

Fashion giant Zara, in a cooperation with the South Korean brand Ader Error, presents a metaverse reflecting the lifestyle of a generation whose identity is characterized by their experiences in the real and the virtual world. That means their collection is available in selected brick-and-mortar stores, but also digitally. Consumers can get an app which converts selfies into avatars which can then be dressed in fanciful garments.

Gucci seems to have been the one to spot the earning potential before anyone else. But since then, Burberry, Ralph Lauren, Balenciaga have jumped on the bandwagon, with H&M and Zara following suit. Digital clothes and accessories are gaining momentum. A virtual Gucci Dionysus bag recently sold for more than 4100 US dollars while its price label in the shop is 3400. NFTs (Non-Fungible-Tokens) – exclusive, digital pieces for real people are the new trend. These are created explicitly and exclusively in a digital format and come with authenticity certificates that are secured by a blockchain.

Morgan Stanley forecasts that shopping in the metaverse will create 50 billion dollars by 2030 for the luxury segment.

Gucci has created a virtual Garden on Roblox providing an immersive multimedia experience in Renaissance Florence. Visitors start out as genderless and ageless creatures, an empty canvas so to speak, then picking up elements from each room that add to their “personality”. We’re too late, I’m afraid for that one: it ended on 31^st May.

With the interest in virtual outfits also comes a growing popularity of fantasy landscapes. Fuelled not least by our being trapped at home for an extended period we are all prone to forms of escapism. While Prada and Burberry et al. used to fly their models to far-flung corners of the world, for us to admire, they are now offering us the possibility to choose our own mystical or fantasy backdrop wearing the most outlandish outfits. Now, instead of watching wafer-thin, enormously tall models, everyone can show themselves in the landscape of their dreams.

But even better: virtual fashion is doing good. It’s saving the planet. Digital couture does not have to source expensive silk, cotton and cashmere, nor is it using dangerous chemicals for dyeing jeans. Their creations do not involve exploiting seamstresses in India, nor do they need to be transported over long distances and displayed at expensive addresses in Paris, Zurich and New York. Only to then be discarded as waste. Their dresses are not just ephemeral, they are also incredibly “green”. Sustainability in its purest form!

If you want to show off on Instagram or on your next zoom meeting or post a selfie in the digital space, why spend money on a real dress that you may only wear once? True, bits and bytes use up a lot of electricity, but all in all, you’re really doing something good for the planet! What we are witnessing here is the de-materialization of fashion.

One of the most important, perhaps THE most important pioneer of digital-only fashion is Amber Jae Slooten, a Dutch designer and Creative Director of The Fabricant. She started by asking the question if garments really needed to have a physical existence. She wanted to explore new ways that would not pollute the world but instead reduce waste and the environmental impact, as well as experimenting with creativity and artificial intelligence.

“Things don’t need to be real, when they seem to be”, Isaac Asimov. The Fabricant has made this its motto: A design method that wastes nothing except data. Look them up here: https://www.thefabricant.com/deep

Fascinating stuff. And no ironing needed.