Balenciaga recently revealed its plans to instantiate a metaverse department, geared towards expanding its marketing and commercial opportunities. The announcement comes shortly after the announcement that OTB Group, parent company of Maison Margiela, Marni, Jil Sander and Viktor & Rolf, announced they would be creating a business unit focussed on the metaverse, called BVX (Brave Virtual Xperience). The unit is expected to promote advancement of new products, projects and experiences meant for the virtual world and will advise all brands under the group. For Balenciaga, being one of the first companies to pioneering department is but another step in a sequence of demonstrated digital frontier skirting. Not long ago, we saw their video game-inspired collection, dubbed ‘Afterworld: The Age of Tomorrow’ and their partnership with the Epic Games’ offering, Fortnite, which had upwards of 3 million active users in September 2021. Together, the two entities made both in-game clothing and accessories, as well as physical goods. Today (8th December) marks the release of the brand’s autumn/winter collection named ‘The Lost Tape’. The collection will be featured in a video and be accompanied by a lookbook. At the Business of Fashion's annual Voices conference in early December, Balenciaga CEO Cédric Charbit shared the company’s grand plans for innovation and growth within the metaverse, and mentioned that at one point, there were around 100 developers dedicated to the new project. Naturally, the label has been identified by metaverse experts and fashion industry contemporaries as the pioneer in this arena.
Will the industry follow suit?
Alongside Balenciaga, French-based luxury group Kering has made moves into the metaverse with another brand it owns, Gucci. The Italian label recently presented ‘Gucci Garden,’ a virtual-reality fashion exhibition on Roblox, and has also partnered with Pokémon Go, The Sims and has introduced its own platforms: Gucci Arcade and Sneaker Garage. Other notable entrants into the metaverse include Ralph Lauren, who partnered with South Korean social network and avatar simulation application Zepeto to create a virtual fashion collection, and brands such as Balmain, Burberry and Givenchy who are all pursing NFT projects.
However, a dedicated metaverse department or even roles such as chief metaverse officer are not yet part of the makeup of most luxury houses or any companies for that matter. Cathy Hackl, chief metaverse officer at Futures Intelligence Group, is one of these few. Hackl commented that in October of 2021, there were only 4 people on LinkedIn with the same title, a number that has now grown to 7 when searching in the platform two months later.
The slow uptake to form such a unit or create the specialist position could stem from the thinking that a chief innovation officer or chief digital officer would be sufficient. Despite being necessary, metaverse projects seemingly need people with knowledge that combines technology, business strategy, marketing and design, along with an understanding of the blockchain and cryptocurrencies. Of course, it would be possible to find all of this in one person but more likely a small department making up each function could be optimal. it can be expected that by 2023, most of the big brands would have established such a team or at least a dedicated metaverse role. With French luxury giant LMVH announcing its plans to hire 25 000 people under 30 by the end of 2022, it seems that a metaverse department consisting of mainly millennials and Gen-Z seems to be where the group is heading.
The need to understanding the true appeal of the metaverse
The rise of the metaverse will not only affect tech nerds, gamers and young digital elites, but most of the population. This is due to the increased amount of time being spent in online spaces, especially following the Covid pandemic. According to the ‘The State of Fashion 2022’ report by McKinsey & Company, collaborative digital spaces with a focus on creativity are a natural progression for our society. This type of insight will be crucial for anyone hoping to be part of a metaverse department.
Dimension Studio’s managing director and co-founder Simon Windsor commented that while working on Balenciaga’s ‘Afterworld’ show, it was possible to “tell stories or bring experiences to life with complete creative freedom that traditional photography or filming wouldn't normally achieve.” This included allowing the clothing to appear photorealistic in its texture and colour and providing users the opportunity to move the camera anywhere within the digital space.
The appeal of the metaverse does not lie in simply having a character in a video game wear a certain skirt, pair of sneakers or hoodie. The metaverse provides us with an opportunity to be wholly different to ourselves as we are in our physical form: to be outlandish, creative and free to explore the unseen sides of our personality. The virtual world has opened up the possibility to digitise our shadow selves in a way that they never could in the physical world.
Comments