62-year-old Claire’s in the metaverse

Fashion brands on Threads, South Korean telecom’s virtual fashion bid, beauty in the metaverse this week

Hello hello! Welcome to all our new friends! And to our current friends – thanks for coming back for this week.

This week we are covering…

💎 ‘Old’ mall brand Claire’s woos Gen Z, Alpha with metaverse and brand reboot

🛍️ Fashion brands start to capitalize on Threads

💅🏻 Roundup: Beauty in the metaverse recently

🔥 Hot links

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“Because of who our consumer is, our brand has to be a first mover in terms of new technology. You’ll see that we’re going to start to play with some artificial intelligence from a creative perspective. We did go into the metaverse. We’re constantly looking for new ways to showcase the product from a content perspective. Content is going to play a key role in what we do.”

Kristin Patrick, EVP and CMO of Claire’s

‘Old’ mall brand Claire’s woos Gen Z, Alpha with metaverse and brand reboot [Link]

62-year-old accessories chain Claire’s brings ‘90s nostalgia to TikTok, the metaverse, and anywhere hot for Gen Z and Gen Alpha consumers.

Highlights of its “multi-year journey” of rebooting its brand, which finds roots in good old shopping malls:

  • Creating the Roblox metaverse experience ShimmerVille, an interactive world experience featuring homes, cars, pets and retail jobs on top of the accessories its brick-and-mortar stores are known for

  • Rolling out a high-end store during Paris Fashion Week

  • Hiring fashion designer Nicola Formachetti as its creative director in residence

Knowing where the game is: Claire’s is also doubling down on its TikTok and social media presence, alongside influencer marketing, to score big in its target demographic and create “an authentic omnichannel presence” for them.

Fashion brands start to capitalize on Threads

In the ever-changing world of social media, a significant Twitter rival has emerged: Threads.

Brands such as Calvin Klein, Kith, Nike, Allbirds, Shein, Uniqlo, Coach, Abercrombie, and Michael Kors have joined Threads, while luxury giants Kering, LVMH, Gucci, Chanel, and Prada have yet to embrace the Meta-backed platform. Notably, Threads is currently not available in the EU due to data protection concerns.

The big potential: Threads, with its connection to Instagram and a potentially laser-sharp focus on advertising, offers brands an enticing channel to digitally engage with their communities. As Twitter faces user retention challenges, Threads presents itself as a viable alternative; while it is currently ad-free, advertising is expected to be introduced in the coming months, with Netflix and Bravo already invited to advertise.

Brands and retailers are taking a cautious approach, though, in light of existing issues such as the politicization of social media.

Roundup: Beauty in the metaverse recently

  • French beauty brand L’Occitane launches a virtual store in a digital Provence, allowing users to digitally navigate the region via virtual bicycle or hot air balloon. Created by virtual store developer Emperia, the platform showcases the brand’s skincare, fragrance, and body care products, in a bid to increase brand engagement, customer loyalty, and e-commerce results.

  • Fenty Beauty and Fenty Skin unveil the Fenty Beauty + Fenty Skin Experience on Roblox, offering a co-creation opportunity for Fenty Beauty’s Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer. Users can participate in scavenger hunts and mazes to learn about Fenty products and ingredients, and explore custom lip shades at the Fenty Beauty Lab. Musician and beauty maven Rihanna will select a winner whose creation will inspire the next Gloss Bomb for rollout in 2024.

  • Lush Cosmetics’ no-social-media strategy gets an update: 2 years after it stopped posting on Facebook and Instagram and left the metaverse in 2021, the cosmetics brand finds a new lease in (social) life via user-generated content - without having to publish a single post.

South Korean telecom mounts fashion metaverse [Link]

LG Uplus Corp. has unveiled digital clothing store Meta Slap, in partnership with Ation Fashion and Z-Emotion, to create metaverse commerce in the fashion industry.

A store within Meta Slap will combine the real and virtual worlds to offer a range of fashion products and accessories, catering to avatar customization and offline purchases.

Why the big push: LG Uplus cites Roblox data that says 5 out of 10 metaverse users dress up their avatars at least once a week. The partners also plan to integrate an AI fitting room to enhance the virtual shopping experience.

🔥 Hot Links

  • As fast fashion faces growing pressure to cut waste, Zara owner Inditex will look to recycling and sustainably farmed crops to reduce its eco impact by 2030. (Link)

  • Now in fashion: Moveworks on Microsoft Teams is a next-gen bot that uses conversational AI to improve employee productivity. (Link)

  • Fashion group URBN plans to integrate AI via a next-gen merchandise planning solution in its digital transformation journey. (Link)

  • Chinese luxury fashion and beauty sales are expected to surpass pre-pandemic levels, reaching $131B by 2027, according to a Business of Fashion (BoF) report. (Link)

  • Saks activates window displays, branded merchandise, and digital initiatives for Warner Bros. studio’s 100th anniversary. (Link)

  • BlockDown Festival partners with the Metaverse Fashion Council for an enhanced festival experience - and an AI-driven fashion hackathon. (Link)

  • Cosmetics giant L'Oréal, in partnership with Google unit Verily, taps into tech to launch a study on advanced skin and hair health. (Link)

  • Designers are using AI-designed squid proteins in a bid to reduce plastic use. (Link)

  • Philipp Plein’s timepiece collection, its 1st phygital project, boasts 8 Crypto King and 6 Crypto Queen timepieces, each paired with an NFT art piece by artist Antoni Tudisco. (Link)

  • In the name of sustainable fashion, University of Arizona students are repurposing old football jerseys into fashionable sportswear. (Link)

  • Fashion’s key dilemma, after being neck deep in everything metaverse in the last 5 years: How to engage the 99%? (Link)

  • The month in fashion NFTs and web3 projects: Nike’s and Fortnite’s Airphoria, PUMA’s introduction of Black Station 2, Fenty Beauty and Fenty Skin’s immersive experience on Roblox, and The Metaverse Pride 2023 event organized by Polygonal Mind. (Link)

  • Ambush’s Yoon Ahn, highly active in web3 has a Ledger collab due out in the early fall, a cold wallet for storing digital assets and crypto. (Link)

  • The Vibrant Fashion District Festival in East London celebrates fashion, sustainability, innovation, and community, uniting conscious brands and digital fashion biz. (Link)

  • Syky’s year-long mentorship program involves top industry voices as mentors, including Calvin Klein CMO Jonathan Bottomley, Syky founder Alice Delahunt, and Red DAO co-founder Megan Kaspar. (Link)

  • Beyond K beauty: Amorepacific’s fight for global dominance is hounded by more players and a foray in the increasingly competitive digital space. (Link)

  • The AI-powered YouCam Makeup app is your next personalized digital fashion stylist. (Link)

  • Crypto’s next top model doesn’t exist. (Link)

  • Fast Sneaks Project is 1-of-1 collectible sneakers authenticated by optical AI tech and features contemporary artist Brendan Murphy’s distinct artistic formula. (Link)

  • What could be the secret sauce to building your brand presence in the metaverse? (Link)

  • Fashion designer Kay Kwok’s worlds are immersive and frightening, yet confoundingly enticing and even inviting. And never one-dimensional. (Link)

All content on this newsletter is for informational purposes only and does not aim to serve as or replace expert investment advice.

If you are a startup building in the metaverse / web3 ecosystem and are raising capital, please reach out to Sfermion. Sfermion is an investment firm focused on accelerating the emergence of the metaverse.

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