Fashion’s relationship with digital has become more and more intertwined over the years, from AI and VR, to the announcement of Facebook’s Metaverse and the lingering effects of the pandemic, a shift from physical to digital spaces within fashion seems almost inevitable.
As detailed in the annual report, Lyst agrees, too – naming digital fashion one of the three core movements that defined the fashion industry this year. It’s a broad subject, and brands are tackling things differently. Whilst some, like Moncler, have opted for digital showings during fashion month, lockdown provoked emerging brand Hanifa to take to software engineering to show a digital presentation in which clothes ‘walked’ the runway as if on a body. As well as being visually striking, this ingenuity propelled Hanifa to new levels of recognition, eventually leading to a debut runway show in Washington DC earlier this month.
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Digital fashion doesn’t stop with runway shows, though – it’s even coming for the influencers. Lil Miquela is a virtual influencer disrupting the Instagram algorithm. Just as robots replaced factory workers, Lil Miquela represents the new wave of ‘robots’, but this time, operating online. This year, Lil Miquela signed with CAA and is projected to earn over US$10 million, as well as having enjoyed sponsorships from respected brands such as Chanel.
Their draw for brands is multifold: as well as being a novelty, virtual influencers are controllable and pose no risk of cancelling: Miquela doesn’t have old offensive tweets ready to be unearthed. Furthermore, it’s been reported that virtual influencers command three times more engagement than a human influencer. And most importantly, they’ve been designed to be aesthetically pleasing – adapting to any existing feed, or product, accordingly.
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However – this virtual perfection comes at a reality cost. The dilemma of unattainable beauty standards become all too real when projecting human beauty standards on to an editable, AI influencer. What’s more, Miquela labels herself as an AI robot. But the brain behind the robot is distinctly different from this facade: Miquela came from engineer duo Trevor McFedries and Sara DuCou. This throws up problems in her youthful audience – millions of which will not be fully conscious of her misrepresentation.
Another facet of digital fashion that cannot be ignored is Zuckerburg’s Metaverse: already seen to be enlisting brands like Balenciaga and Nike for virtual collections, it seems probable that exclusively-online fits will soon become a reality. Apps such as ZERO10 are wasting no time capitalising on this either, as they “allow users to purchase, wear and collect digital garments from real-world brands”.
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Despite only having scratched the surface of digital fashion, Zuckerberg’s ventures into the Metaverse, the rise of virtual influencers and digital runway presentations all point towards a shift into a new world of fashion. It still remains to be seen as to whether it will catch on completely, but with Nike filing trademarks and Lil Miquela gaining followers by the hour, digital activity, in any form, seems to be the future of fashion, whether we like it or not.
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See also: MONDOGENIUS: MONCLER’S DIGITALLY-LED FASHION WEEK PRESENTATION
See also: HIROTO IKEUCHI: THE DESIGNER BEHIND BALENCIAGA’S CYBORGS
