“I wanted
to give
people
access to
the things
that I
had as a
magazine
editor”Right, from top:
Drest, a new
game that allows
users to practise
their styling
skills, then buy
the clothes; Bella
Hadid and avatar
Miquela Sousa
for Calvin Klein.
Below, from top:
Ada encourages
3D interaction
between users and
brands such as
Prada; Moschino
looks designed
exclusively for
The Sims;
Lightning, Final
Fantasy’s heroine,
for Louis
Vuitton, 2016toile de Jouy or occupied
by a VR panther on the
prowl – where you can
dress up your chosen
avatar in Prada, then
take a series of shots to
share on your social
media or in-message
with friends. Users are
invited to purchase these
clothes directly from
the 20 high-end brands
currently signed up. The
duo has joined forces
with Sina, the Chinese
internet company that
owns mircoblogging site
Weibo, and will launch
the app initially in China, because,
as Niedzielski wisely points out, “by
2025, 50 per cent of the world’s luxury
demographic will be Chinese”.
Both Yeomans and Niedzielski argue
that gaming is the final piece of the
puzzle in making luxury fashion more
democratic. “Social media made luxury
fashion accessible – but it was visible,
not available,” says Niedzielski, over
the phone from her native Brazil.
“Luxury fashion still isn’t affordable.
But this game actually does make luxury
available for all.” Yeomans espouses a
similar theory. “I wanted to give people
access to the things that I had asa magazine editor: the clothes, the
locations, the supermodels, the hair and
make-up... There’s something lovely
about the fact that anyone can become
an amazing stylist.”
They can also become an amazing
shopper. Surprisingly, for someone who
has worked in fashion for more than
20 years, Yeomans insists she doesn’t
particularly like shopping and finds it
“a difficult experience”. Since starting
Drest, however, she has found a renewed
sense of confidence when purchasing.
“I bought a pair of Clergerie woven
sandals because I kept using them in allmy style challenges and realised they were so cute,” she laughs,
showing me how other users have chosen the very same
sandals in their style challenges. This information can also
be fed back to brands, though Yeomans is quick to insist it’s
all GDPR-compliant. “We can go back to a brand and say,
‘This bag is doing really well with our users in Australia – you
need to produce more there.’ One trainer brand is launching
a product on the platform first, incidentally.”
The increasingly blurred line between real and virtual
experience has also led to the rise of avatars as celebrities. In
2016, Louis Vuitton signed up the pink-haired protagonist
Lightning, a digital avatar from the cult game Final Fantasy,
as a campaign star. “Lightning is the perfect avatar for a
global, heroic woman and for a world where social networks
and communications are now seamlessly woven into our life,”
creative director Nicolas Ghesquière said at the time. Today,
Miquela Sousa, an avatar better known
by her handle @lilmiquela (she has 1.6
million followers on Instagram, where
her bio reads: “musician, change-seeker,
and robot with the drip”), has cemented
her position as a computer-generated
influencer, wearing Supreme, Chanel
and Dior, commandeering Prada’s
Instagram feed, and starring in a Calvin
Klein campaign in which she locked
CGI-plumped lips with Bella Hadid.
Numerous brands have developed
their own games that play on house
codes and branding. In July, the Gucci
Arcade, a new section dedicated to
games inspired by 1980s arcades, was
added to the fashion house’s app.
Hermès, Uniqlo and Fendi have all
experimented with games, with the
latter creating a Mini Game on China’s WeChat network
in June, where users cruise around Rome collecting
FF logo coins and mini Baguette bags. Witness, too,
Moschino’s lucrative partnership with The Sims. The brand
created an in-game collection that any of the game’s 80
million players could choose for their Sim avatars – as well
as a real-life equivalent capsule collection, with hoodies
retailing from £354.
Perhaps the final frontier for those who desire luxury
fashion but find it beyond their means is virtual acquisition.
“With the in-game currency, if you
really want to buy the £10,000 Gucci
dress, you can – for a fraction of the
real-life price,” says Yeomans. “You
can go on that spree for a fiver. You
can be Julia Roberts, but without
having to sleep with Richard Gere.”
Niedzielski refers me to Striking
Vipers, the episode of Black Mirror
in which two male best friends enjoy
virtual sex, then wonder if they have
been cheating on their wives.
“Virtual experience does trigger
this real excitement and desire that
can’t be fulfilled – so the virtual
experience becomes heightened,”
she says. Got your eye on an £8,000
cashmere coat from The Row?
Now, your perfect wardrobe is just
a download away. nTRENDS82ADA; @LILMIQUELA; TETSUYA NOMURA & VISUAL WORKS OF SQUARE ENIX; THE SIMS11-19-FOB-FashionGaming.indd 82 12/09/2019 16:19