This year, the term "metaverse" became completely unavoidable, infiltrating nearly every consumer's mindset and trickling into nearly every brand's marketing strategies.
Pritish Bagdi
Decentraland's Metaverse Fashion Week 2022.
Whether it was the regular release of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), the establishment of virtual retail spaces, or the introduction of virtual influencers, the world of digital fashion has only grown, laying the groundwork for what is to come.
January: The month of NFTs
While 2021 may have officially been the pinnacle year for NFTs, their usage by fashion brands seemed to have prominently seeped into the beginning of 2022 through branded launches and digital clothing drops. While the likes of Balmain, Gap and Gucci got in on the trend, either through collaborations or platform unveilings, other fashion companies were instead tackling the drawbacks that come from ownership within the digital world. Hermès took to suing creator Mason Rothschild for alleged “trademark infringement” over his release of NFT ‘Metabirkins’, stating that the artist was “appropriating the brand” through the launch. A similar filing was later sought by Nike against StockX, which released NFTs using the brand’s logo and likeness.
February: Virtual events take hold
This month, a number of conferences and fashion weeks that were held exclusively online coincided with the real-world fashion week season, making the phenomena of virtual events more and more obvious. The third iteration of Digital Fashion Week NYC has come to an end. Everyrealm and Jonathan Simkhai collaborated on a fashion show in the virtual world of Second Life, and even Paris Hilton joined the movement by announcing her own fashion week in association with Boohoo. While this was going on, participating designers in "regular" fashion weeks also included digital technology into their live runway presentations, with some even launching games, virtual goods, and NFTs alongside their traditional product lines.
March: The world’s ‘first-ever’ Metaverse Fashion Week
After months of anticipation, the highly anticipated Metaverse Fashion Week (MVFW) took place in March, with a slew of designers and brands unveiling digital activations, fashion collections, and shows. The event defined the time period, dominating media platform coverage as thousands of users descended on Decentraland to witness the event. While The Fabricant and Dolce & Gabbana debuted virtual collections on the runway, Dundas, Selfridges, and DKNY were among those to open digital store locations where "players" could shop and explore both digital and physical merchandise.
April: The metaverse spills out into the wide industry
For the month of April, digital fashion began to merge into further corners of the fashion industry, engaging consumers that weren’t initially linked to the rapidly expanding concept. Pronovias became one of the first bridal brands to explore this sector, launching a series of wedding-themed NFTs based on its 2023 collection. Meanwhile, sportswear giant Adidas revealed an artificial intelligence (AI) avatar creation platform and luxury fashion house Marni dove head first into an immersive fashion experience to display its latest collection. The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) also took its first steps into the metaverse, launching an educational Web3-based programme for its members.
May: Branding and advertising agencies get in on the gig
To keep up with the fast rise of the metaverse so far in the year, it became evident that marketing agencies were also going to have to get in on the gig in order to support brands and their interests. This was something that ad tech company Hivestack was quick to adopt through the launch of its metaverse-based advertising offer, backing and supplying digital world advertising. Meanwhile, creative agency Cult opened an in-game marketing hub to support retailer’s entries into the digital realm. Other industries were also jumping in on digital fashion, including gaming giant Epic Games, which invested in virtual retail developer PixelPool, and colour authority firm Pantone, which unveiled wearable metaverse technology.
June: Meta takes its first steps
While Meta made it known that it was putting its emphasis on metaverse development, the social media group was arguably trailing behind others when actually integrating the virtual world into its operations. It wasn’t until June when it first introduced an avatar clothing store, albeit boasting a strong line up of designer brands among its mix, including Prada and and Balenciaga. Meanwhile, other brands were continuing to cement their place online, with the likes of Tommy Hilfiger expanding its Roblox presence and media platform Complex launching the third edition of its metaverse-based ComplexLand.
July: Educational initiatives aim to drive the industry
Educational initiatives revolving around the metaverse had been prominent all year round, and launched by a wide variety of brands, platforms and companies that each aimed to help start-ups and those new to the industry get their foot in the door. This idea was further emphasised in July by Farfetch, which launched its own Web3 accelerator programme to support emerging companies in the sector. Additionally, the Amsterdam Fashion Institute (AMFI) also hosted the third edition of its Digital Fashion summer course, which welcomed students and established brands alike to learn more about this advanced technology.
August: Pop-ups, start-ups and thrifting take centre stage
While large-scale, well known brands had seemingly led the way in 2022, smaller labels and emerging retailers were beginning to gain traction in the digital realm by August. While sneaker start-up The Edit LDN entered the digital world via an NFT partnership with Bloktopia, Depop backed designers on its platform by enabling them to release digital pieces within The Sims 4. Newly founded digital-first brands also found their footing, including the phygital brand Cult&Rain which launched its own metaverse and Zero10 that opened a physical pop-up where digital garments could be tried on. This was all tied together by the unveiling of a soon-to-be-launched digital fashion marketplace Draup, which will be centred around supporting independent brands and designers.
September: Luxury has its heyday
Luxury was arguably at the forefront of most digital fashion movements over the course of the year, but during this month luxury brands became even more consistent in their launches, rapidly expanding the sector further. Bulgari took its first steps into the metaverse with a Zepeto-based experience, Dundas joined Roblox offering up a digital fashion collection for the platform and Alibaba celebrated the five-year anniversary of its Tmall site with the debut of a virtual shopping platform for its luxury brand partners. Additionally, CFDA unveiled more digital features, including a metaverse-based exhibition, and Gucci announced the appointment of a CEO for its new Metaverse Ventures division, hinting at its continued focus on the sector.
October: Marketing becomes metaverse first
Next to a series of NFT drops and digital product launches, October was defined by marketing activities that gave a glimpse into how digital fashion could be used throughout media in the near future. While Marks & Spencer debuted its first virtual influencer and Burberry unveiled a campaign through Minecraft, Snapchat took digital promotion one step further at an event in Amsterdam, where it allowed visitors to test out its augmented reality (AR) product features for a selection of brands. Additionally, as an expansion of its London Fashion Week line up, Black PR revealed a number of digital showrooms in a bid to aid its portfolio brands in entering the space.
November: Virtual stores present new opportunities
Virtual stores were something that brands had only begun to explore at the beginning of the year, but towards its end the concept had been fully adopted and implemented by a range of established retailers. Lacoste was among those, introducing an immersive shopping experience where visitors could purchase digital products and take part in interactive settings around the store. Additionally, for its 150-year anniversary, department store Bloomingdale’s also debuted a digital store, albeit with multiple floors that were dedicated to various partner brands, including Chanel and Ralph Lauren. Meanwhile, sportswear giant Adidas dropped another range of NFT wearables just days after independent fashion group Xtended Identity introduced a rentable fashion collection.
December: AR shopping evolves e-commerce
AR shopping went even further for December, as brands looked towards unique activations to support their holiday campaigns. Next to dropping its DressX collaborative collection, H&M introduced an AR feature onto its e-commerce app allowing shoppers to try and buy digital fashion pieces that could be viewed through a camera lens. Puma debuted a similar virtual try-on feature on its own newly launched app, albeit with a variety of footwear products, while Bershka also partnered with DressX on virtual clothing to be worn via an AR lens.