Tommy Hilfiger has decided to enter the metaverse, embracing the phygital world with virtual fashion shows.
Summary
Tommy Hilfiger in the metaverse: between physical and digital
The world-famous American fashion house, founded by designer Tommy Hilfiger, has embarked on this new journey that combines the real with the digital.
By now, the metaverse represents an opportunity for all sectors, offering brands innovative solutions to expand exposure and visibility. It also allows consumers to enjoy a new, more immersive type of experience, thus creating a stronger connection between customer and business.
It resembles the gold rush, where big brands are competing to be able to chase this new revolution that will surely bring many benefits to the market. It is still a completely new reality, yet to be discovered and fully understood, where no one really knows how to exploit its potential and how it will evolve in the future.
The latest player is Tommy Hilfiger, who decided to recreate his fashion show at New York Fashion Week in the Roblox metaverse. Avatars will wear the same clothes presented by the models during the show, and both the physical and virtual versions will be immediately available for purchase.
Luxury brands in the metaverse and the problems associated with “try on” applications
For all major brands, virtual fashion is a key part of the company’s future, and the metaverse is a great way to democratize access to designer clothes on a large scale.
It would also allow solving all those user privacy issues caused by so-called “try on” applications. Virtually trying on clothing, as well as cosmetics, is the future of retail. However, the thing is that these kinds of applications require face and/or body scanning, which allows owners to get hold of a large amount of sensitive data.
In the metaverse, instead, virtual proofs of clothing will be able to be applied to one’s avatar, so as to eliminate the need to provide this kind of data to third parties.
According to Bloomberg reports, big brands such as Louis Vuitton and Estée Lauder, are already facing lawsuits over privacy violations due to facial geometry scans.
Fortunately, Tommy Hilfiger does not seem to be involved in these kinds of court cases, although it has already been anticipated in the race for the metaverse.
For example, Gucci in 2021 opened the Gucci Garden Archetypes, a multimedia exhibition exploring the Maison’s creative vision. About a month ago, the celebrated Italian fashion brand also created Gucci Town, a veritable digital neighborhood that echoes the Maison’s vision.
Next comes Nike with its virtual store in Roblox’s metaverse, Nikeland, which recorded an impressive 7 million visits on its launch day.
Finally, there’s luxury fashion house, Burberry, which launched its first virtual bag collection in the Roblox metaverse.
