SUL SUL, STEFAN COOKE

by Stella Hughes 2 years ago

by Stella Hughes 2 years ago 3 min

stefan cooke the sims — @stefan_cooke ©, edited by CULTED

Well before talks of Balenciaga in Zuckerburg’s Metaverse and digital fashion as a whole, we had The Sims: the original digital destination of self-expression and experimentation in gaming that (sort of) mirrored real life. Here was a platform to dress your own avatar, sabotage the fits of the sims you hated, and experiment with the latest (virtual) wardrobe updates.

Now, the game has tapped one of the most in-demand brands of this year, Stefan Cooke, to design a new wardrobe update in collaboration with EA and the British Fashion Council. The London-based pair behind the brand (Stefan Cooke and Jake Burt) have taken their usual vision online.

Known for breaking style boundaries and redefining menswear norms, Stefan Cooke was lauded for its unusual fashion week presentation in September, which blended performance art with traditional runway.

The digital collection delivers all of the Cooke favourites, and is titled The Sims 4 Modern Menswear Kit. It features 23 pieces from the brand’s recent collections, recreated virtually. Highlights include the brand’s iconic wool varsity coat and skirt, a brown flower-print sweater with upper chest slit, and even the quilt-style sunny yellow slasher jumper for the colder virtual months. And, better yet, the pack costs just US $4.99.

This wasn’t a rushed marketing ploy, either. The Stefan Cooke team met with designers at The Sims biweekly for almost a year, going over the details and even hand-painting the textures of crocheted sweaters and miniskirts to have them look as realistic as possible. The collection is not all about showboating, with most pieces being considered highly wearable as opposed to over-the-top.

The move makes sense on multiple levels; by taking the clothes into The Sims universe, a new generation (of around 30 million players) will be exposed to Cooke designs and clothing. The move also ties into the brand’s ethos of boundary-breaking – using The Sims to allow users to explore heightened versions of their own style and express themselves in new ways, whilst also breaking down financial barriers. Where else but within The Sims universe could you own 23 Stefan Cooke pieces for under a fiver?

The Stefan Cooke x The Sims modern menswear pack launches globally on December 2.