Welcome back to Now Runway, where we report from the front lines of the digital fashion and luxury revolution. While Paris Fashion Week creates headlines and speculation – mostly around Pharrell Williamsdebut show for Louis Vuitton — we’re happy to report that IRL Fashion Weeks aren’t slowing down the digital fashion cycle.
Here’s what you missed last week, from Givenchy beauty Celebrating Pride Month Spatial Unpleasant Nike Working with Fortnite.
Givenchy beauty
Givenchy beauty celebrates Pride Month by unveiling an exhibit in the metaverse called the “Givenchy Beauty Pride Gallery.” Hosted on the metaverse platform Spatial and designed by bem.builders — a bridge-builder between brands and the metaverse — the project gave three digital creators complete freedom to explore the theme of inclusion and celebration of the LGBTQIA+ community while adhering to the codes of the luxury home.
The Givenchy Beauty Pride Gallery presents the work of artists Vanilla Verloes, Sam JAnd Edgar Fabian Frias. The design of the exhibition space reflects the signature elements of Givenchy Parfums, including the purple and blue shades of the Prisme Libre powder. The realm consists of several floating islands, each with artwork and connected by black ramps for avatars to traverse. Visitors can find different places to sit, take pictures, record videos and share their experiences with friends. Users can complete a quest consisting of searching for hidden collectibles scattered throughout the exhibit to win a Givenchy beauty badge.
As the exhibition progresses, colors resembling rainbows fall from the sky, culminating in a spectacular virtual firework display. The exhibition is open to the public until July 6, and the artworks can also be seen on Givenchy Beauty’s Instagram and TikTok platforms.
Nike x Fortnite
Sportswear titan Nike partners with Fortnite, a Web3 gaming platform, to develop a Nike-inspired virtual world called ‘Airphoria’. Fortnite describes Airphoria as “a towering celebration of sneakerhead culture, complete with stomping (light) terrains” like Station 97, Shoebox Tower, and Museum Max.
By linking their Epic Games account to the dotSwoosh trading platform, players can secure a spot on the allow list for the upcoming Air Max digital release in the game. The collaboration between Beyond Creative, Nike and Epic Games uses the Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN) to bring Airphoria Island to life.
The Fortnite website welcomes users with the following prompt: “Calling all sneakerheads: In an unlikely floating city, ‘Airie’ has thwarted ‘Maxxed Out Max’s attempt to add missing Air Max Grails to his already maxed-out collection. Experience Airphoria in Fortnite and recover the lost Air Max Grails! Just for your help, you receive the Air Max 1 ’86 Back Bling.”
The island can be accessed from now until 8pm ET on June 27, 2023 by using the Discover feature or entering the island code 2118-5342-7190. Players who spend at least 10 minutes exploring this island will be rewarded with the Air Max 1 ’86 Back Bling starting June 28.
Drest
Drest, a mobile gaming company democratizing the luxury fashion, beauty and lifestyle industry, has secured £15 million in funding to advance the development of Drest Game 2.0. Since its inception in 2019, Drest has witnessed a 250 per cent year-on-year user growth, raised a total of £30 million and has worked directly with over 260 brands such as Breitling, Cartier, Fendi, Gucci, Prada and Valentino.
The investment comes at a time when mobile game revenue will reach $92.2 billion by 2022, representing 50 percent of the $184.4 billion in global gaming market revenue. According to NewZoo, the global gaming market is expected to be worth $221 billion by 2025.
Combining the artistic realms of luxury fashion, beauty and lifestyle with the limitless possibilities of the metaverse, Drest allows players to showcase and hone their styling skills using the latest luxury fashion and beauty collections to create hyper-realistic avatars. decorate.
Through its in-game challenges, Drest serves as a user-generated content platform, with digital fashion selections delivered directly from Farfetch and brands, allowing players to discover, style and shop the latest collections. Drest combines gamification with brand marketing and collaboration capabilities, enabling stakeholders to connect with new, highly active audiences.
The financing round was negotiated with the family office of Drest co-founder and co-chairman Graham Edwards. Edwards recognized Drest’s potential early on working with fellow founder and co-chairman Lucy Yeomans, who previously held positions as Global Content Director for Net-A-Porter and Editor-in-Chief of Harpers Bazaar UK for 12 years.