🕶 Metaproof Fashion 

Welcome to  🕶 Metaproof Fashion. A weekly newsletter that tracks the fashion industry’s digital frontier.

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✨ Top Picks

Epic Games’ investment in a digital fashion company (Link)

Details remain sparse, but gaming powerhouse Epic Games and digital fashion company CLO Virtual Fashion have officially purchased shares in each other. 

CLO Virtual Fashion provides tools like fashion design software to its target market, and this already integrates with Epic’s Unreal Engine and a marketplace where garment designs can be purchased and sold. 

Why this matters: While the announcement doesn’t cite the amount of each other’s investment, the new partnership signals Epic’s foray and interest in digital fashion as part of its sprawling metaverse ambitions. 

Fashion expands Unreal Engine’s goal of being used beyond game development, deemed a way to break into the “complex” virtual worlds and break down “a creative barrier for digital fashion creators” today.

Virtual makeup try-on, digital transformation from Shiseido and Urban Decay

Beauty powerhouses Shiseido and Urban Decay are both on a digital transformation drive to change the industry and way the beauty business liaises with its target customers. 

Shiseido integrates data, AI, and web3 for a seamless, personalized and omnichannel experience, with recent digital engagement rollouts including direct-to-consumer e-commerce sites with a range of online tools for greater customization, virtual consultations with the brand’s beauty experts, and more targeted product matching.

Urban Decay, meanwhile, hosts its first-ever metaverse make-up launch party, the Eye-Con event, on gaming platform Roblox, to enable users to try on 18 limited-ed virtual make-up looks.

The 3D avatar wearables use Urban Decay products that can be bought IRL.

Google’s AI test for fashion shopping (Link)

Google is about to test the waters for AI integration in shopping, essentially what it has dubbed Search Generative Experience or SGE.

The goal: make search results smarter by using a small group of users to test the search and connect shoppers with sellers in a way that’s more responsive than at present.

Why this is important: Google currently hosts 1B+ shopping sessions every single day, with tens of billions of product listings. Of these, clothing is one of the most-searched-for super-categories. 

As search can be difficult when a certain search cannot exactly articulate what is being looked for, AI can be used to do it faster and more seamlessly.

Parsons School of Design’s digital fashion for Roblox (Link)

Leading art and design school Parsons takes its first Roblox stage as Parsons students showcase hyper-realistic, 3D digital apparel for the metaverse. 

In the 16-week course, student artists focus on exploring trends and innovation in digital fashion, displaying their wares before millions of Roblox consumers to wear on their avatars. 

Why it’s big: The student community sold 1.8B digital fashion items on Roblox in 2022, speaking volumes of its influence on broader fashion trends. 

Some 70% of Gen Z consumers say their avatar fashion on Roblox influences their IRL fashion choices, making next-gen designers and brands attuned to this segment altogether.

Gmoney’s web3 fashion empire (Link)

gmoney launched his first product from 9dcc, a crypto-native luxury house and lifestyle platform, to much unprecedented success among web3-native brands. To promote the third iteration, gmoney set up a “treasure hunt” in New York City where participants could win prizes. 

His value creation > value extraction operating model has boded well for him and his brand, with other success indicators such as collaborations with Adidas, selling Visa its first CryptoPunk, and advising others on their entry into the web3 space, catapulting him into web3 thought leadership. 

More retailers in the metaverse in 2023 (Link)

Retailers are increasingly launching events in the metaverse this year compared to previous years, indicating an upward trajectory. Some key numbers from the RetailX 2023 Metaverse Almanac report:

• 2022 was “year zero” for metaverse activities, with 14% of retailers launching events last year compared to 62% in 2023. 

• Of these retailers and brands, which have been operating in the metaverse, 34% launched 1 event in the space, with 38% launching 2 events, and 28% offering 3 or more in the metaverse respectively.

• Most offerings were temporary, with 24% lasting less than a week and just 6% of events permanent, lasting 1+ year.

How fashion leads the charge: It’s the most active industry in the metaverse, with 34% of retailers offering activities versus 3% of cosmetic retailers. 

🔥 Hot Links

• Paris-based label Casablanca works alongside Luke Nugent for a set of AI-generated campaign images for Spring/Summer 2023. (Link)

• Today in AI-generated images: Air Jordan toilets send the internet into a frenzy. (Link)

• 1st look: limited web3 edition RACING SHOE5 sneakers by Renault. (Link)

• Fashion apparel brand Scotch & Soda taps Nogin’s Intelligent Commerce tech and services to power its D2C segment. (Link)

• Bobby Hundreds, early adopter of blogging and web3, marks his streetwear brand’s 20th year and new book. (Link)

• Why is digital fashion platform DRAUP “skipping” the metaverse for now? (Link)

• Cleveland-based product design firm Nottingham Spirk leverages smart tech for clothes making that gets with the times. (Link)

• HK designers Arto Wong and Mountain Yam made their forays into NFT apparel design and have voiced out the need for more sustainable fashion. (Link)

• Web3 brand Boss Beauties dropped virtual collectibles in collaboration with Mintel’s iconic Barbie on May 10. (Link)

• Screen wear is the new streetwear: How the fashion industry sees digital assets as a potential treasure trove. (Link)

• Let’s talk trademark: It's essential for brand owners to keep in mind that they will face the genuine-use requirement in the metaverse as well. (Link) 

• Beauty behemoth Elizabeth Arden launches its 1st immersive virtual store experience, created with experiential e-commerce platform Obsess. (Link)

• To celebrate its 3rd digital offer on Zepeto, Zara lets users compete for ZEMs and coins by dressing their avatars in the Fairy Magic Idols collection. (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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