BACK TO (DIGITAL) REALITY: WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE METAVERSE?

by Stella Hughes 1 year ago

by Stella Hughes 1 year ago 4min

Ahh the metaverse. Inescapable, inevitable and exciting. Or ominous, depending on how you look at things. Whilst everyone was distracted with the IRL proceedings of fashion month, lots was bubbling away under the pixelated surface in the metaverse, that we should probably take a look at. From the Metaverse Fashion Week, rounded off by Grimes, to rare NFTs and digital-first collections, let’s take a dive into the deep dark pool that is the metaverse.

METAVERSE FASHION WEEK

Decentraland hosted the world’s first Metaverse Fashion Week after IRL fashion month proceedings came to a close. In a similar set-up to the more familiar real-life fashion weeks, Metaverse Fashion Week included runway shows, pop-ups and panels, art installations, and musical performances.

Although the inaugural digital proceedings encountered some hiccups, with brands struggling to adapt and adjust their designs seamlessly, the event was undoubtedly far more inclusive than regular fashion week. Anyone with internet access is on the guest list for Metaverse Fashion Week, as well as being able to purchase items of clothing straight from the virtual catwalk to dress their 3D digital avatar. Grimes x Auroboros even closed the week off with a digital performance – something which we’re sure we’ll see a lot more artists hopping on next season.

AVAVAV JOINED THE METAVERSE

…and things got weird. Showing as part of MVFW, Beate Karlsson’s label AVAVAV launched its first metaverse collection, and it was all types of crazy. We saw a series of four-toed boots, extending the finger shoes that the label makes in real life, as well as surreal, bulbous, yet digitally wearable sculptures. Coming in various colourways, the boots were platformed and to be fair, exactly what you’d think to wear in a new digital landscape.

Karlsson acknowledged the benefits of designing in the digital realm, by pointing out that there are no limits: “The greatest part about the metaverse is that there is no use for comfort or dress codes. It’s a dream for a designer.”

NFTs

NFTs and the metaverse go hand in hand. And in the last month or so, we’ve seen a few more rare releases and extortionate price points. It was only a matter of time before Takashi Murakami joined the hype with his iconic flowers. Releasing an NFT collection of 11,664 NFTs, with each initially a seed which blooms into a hand-generated flower. The public can join the raffle for a chance to purchase one at 0.108ETH. ⁠

Elsewhere, there’s been some NFT drama concerning, quite randomly, Pepe the frog. In essence, Matt Furie, the creator of Pepe the Frog, is being sued for $507,084.00 over alleged fraud involving a Rare Pepe NFT. A buyer, believing the NFT was super-rare, was disgruntled to find out that there were actually dozens of the same NFT in circulation, which devalued the piece by hundreds of thousands of dollars. Resulting in a lawsuit and lots of back-and-forth, the issues of NFTs superseding (now) outdated copyright laws are beginning to shape up.