AI boosts Ebay’s fashion category

HAPE’s acquisition, Barbie in digital GAP and Forever 21 worlds, The Fabricant’s new fashion metaverse

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…

🤝 Some big digital fashion acquisitions

💁‍♀️ Barbie’s summer digital collabs with GAP and Forever 21

🌐 A new fashion metaverse

📈 Crazy stats

🔥 Hot Links

“I think that there’s a very exciting, bright future ahead for designers with the changing culture towards sustainability, inclusion, and technology.

The digital world is going to be massively important and I think that’s something our generation hasn’t really embraced in the same way. But I think that’s a necessity. One of the key ingredients in staying relevant is that you embrace these new things.”

- Fashion designer Peter Dundas

Ebay acquires AI startup to boost it’s pre-loved fashion category (Link)

​Ebay acquired Certilogo, a provider of AI-powered apparel and fashion goods digital IDs and authentication, in its bid to boost its “pre-loved” fashion segment.

Noting that customers continue to flock the marketplace for its “unmatched selection” as well as “commitment to utilizing the latest technology,” Ebay says it wants to provide customers with more confidence as they increasingly prefer sustainably conscious buys.

Why Certilogo? It appears key to Ebay’s mission as it harnesses digital tech to help brands and designers manage the lifecycle of their garments, while enabling customers to confirm authenticity and access information about branded items.

Vertex Labs’ acquisition of 3D NFT fashion brand HAPE’s parent company (Link)

Sealing the company’s offer in web3 and AI infrastructure, Vertex Labs - the entity behind the Caduceus metaverse protocol, Vertex Network, and 3D metaverse platform LightCycle - has acquired London-based digital art studio, Digimental, which is behind blue-chip 3D NFT fashion brand HAPE. The sale goes for $12M.

Through this deal, Vertex Labs will build on HAPE’s collaborations with Italian fashion giant Diesel and global lifestyle brand Jagermeister, as HAPE continues to forge new tie ups with fashion, lifestyle, and luxury players across web3 initiatives.

The desired end game: for HAPE to become the go-to destination in digital fashion.

HAPE claims to have the largest NFT community in the world with 420K+ members on Discord and a global, cross-platform community of 1M+ members. It is known for its digital art, rooted in cultural cues from street fashion, tech, and music.

Barbie in digital GAP and Forever 21 collections (Link)

“Come on, Barbie, let’s go party,” goes fast fashion brands GAP and Forever 21 as they partner with enduring fashion icon Barbie across metaverse activations this summer.

GAP X BARBIE

  • The Barbiecore line combines Barbie's iconic pink hues and loopy logo with Gap's signature styles, such as logo T-shirts and hoodies. The collections comprise lines for adults, kids, and even pets.

  • Gap’s Times Square store showcases an interactive experience powered by Geospatial Creator in Adobe Aero Pre-release, where consumers will see the “store come to life” as Barbie and her friends model the limited-ed collection.

  • The collection, marked by Barbie’s signature bubble-gum pink complemented by accents of gray and more, features 76 pieces for women and children featuring items like logo tees, sweatshirts, and sequin-embellished denim.

  • An AI-designed virtual collection is available exclusively on Roblox via Shop City, mirroring the in-store assortment and offering metaverse-exclusive designs that include formal and streetwear lines.

The Fabricant’s new fashion metaverse (Link)

The Fabricant, a leading web3 couture fashion house, announces its collaboration with the hyper-realistic metaverse Cornerstone to form a new VR world. Let's delve into the details:

  • The Fabricant leverages Cornerstone's cloud-rendering tech to create immersive and hyper-realistic experiences for users.

  • The inaugural fashion event in this virtual space, titled "Wholeland, Primal Rave," will showcase The Fabricant's iconic Wholeland collection of couture wearables.

  • Cornerstone's unique cloud system, based on the Unreal Engine, enables a photorealistic virtual journey for attendees.

Onto its digital fashion agenda: In 2022 alone, The Fabricant partnered with top physical and digital brands including Dolce & Gabbana, World of Women, and Sevdaliza. This year, if this new partnership is any indication, it resolves to keep enhancing the user experience in a fashion-first virtual environment.

AI, AR, and VR as the future of shopping (Link)

Klarna's study of 5K+ consumers from 5 countries probes shopping habits in an 18-year period, when Gen Z and millennials essentially took the lead. The results reveal:

  • 40% prefer virtual dressing rooms, 18% prefer AR, or 23% will rely on AI to advise clothing choices.

  • 81% of Gen Z and 75% millennials anticipate AR to upgrade their in-store shopping experience, with 33% believing it will become a standard in retail stores.

  • 52% will prefer physical fashion stores over online (33%) in 2041, while 44% of Gen Z will try their clothes the same way today.

  • 70% want the shopping experience to become more personalized in the future, and 42% are sure it will be, both in-store and online.

Across generations, the circular economy should be more prominent in the fashion industry and that sustainability should be a priority.

🔥 Hot Links

  • RSTLSS x Claire Silver merges fashion, art, and technology in Pixelgeist. (Link)

  • K-beauty brand Laneige launches its 1st immersive virtual store with experiential commerce firm Obsess. (Link)

  • Fashion retailer Windsor LLC taps Stylitics for styling and product recommendations. (Link)

  • Rowing Blazers partner with Gucci's online store, Gucci Vault, for a capsule collection of vacation and formal wear. (Link)

  • The metaverse is in its nascent stage, but Indian retailers are already exploring AR, VR, and NFTs for immersive and interactive shopping. (Link)

  • Fashion photographer Chen Man picks Grimes as her muse for her 1st NFT collection on LiveArt. (Link)

  • Local label Tutera brings ancient Egyptian designs to life with AI. (Link)

  • By recycling visuals from ‘90s websites, artist Rajeev Basu brings 2nd hand clothing to digital fashion. (Link)

  • As global hype wanes and amid high-profile local failures in the field, can China pull ahead in the metaverse race? (Link)

  • How co-founder and chief metaverse office Cathy Hackle leads design firm Journey into its web3 future. (Link)

  • Podcast: BoF’s Marc Bain and panelists break down the state of web3 in fashion and where the tech’s headed. (Link)

  • Why is this Billings-based fashion influencer uncertain of their future with TikTok? (Link)

  • With technology and futurism as other design themes, goth reveals its dark heart at the Australian Fashion Week. (Link)

  • Back in December, Warner Music Group announced a “first-of-its-kind partnership” with digital fashion retailer DRESSX. Now it’s Epic Games’ turn for a fashion crossover. (Link)

  • Find the right clothes without fuss: Myntra’s AI stylist suggests users outfits based on their purchase and browsing history. (Link)

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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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