World of Fashion
Outlook into Fashion Future: Between Real and Digital?
Digital fashion to help reduce overproduction
by Yvonne Heinen-Foudeh, Senior International Correspondent
Retail purchases, especially in fashion, are often made on impulse, which has a detrimental effect on the planet. Digital twins of real-life clothing pieces may be key to reducing over-consumption. “Recreating the experience – the joy of shopping – in the digital space can provide consumers with the same positive experiences but with a reduced carbon footprint.” Indre Viltrakyte, leading the Web 3 fashion venture The Rebels, is convinced.
Given the current overall situation, 85 percent of the intercontinental fashion executives who took part in the survey believe that inflation will be the biggest challenge of all this year. That rising energy prices will continue to weigh on the market is believed by 58 percent.
Digital alternatives may indeed play an especially important role for Generation Z [also known as post-millennials, describes the successor generation to Generation Y in demographic terms. Gen Z is predominantly associated with individuals who were born between 1997 and 2012.].That target group will be able to experiment with their self-expression journeys in the digital realm, without resorting to impromptu shopping and wasteful consumption – values most prominent among their peers.
A digital foot-in-the-door“Phygital fashion” refers to real-life clothing items having ‘digital twins’, which, same as their physical counterparts, can be owned and traded. Indre Viltrakyte, a fashion industry expert with more than ten years of experience shared with The NEEDLE’S EYE that the two-way bridge between the real and the digital will be key in bringing more sustainability into the industry, as well as creating an ecosystem where you get meaningful rewards for using items longer and more responsibly.
The Rebels brand was launched by Vilnius, Lithuania-based Resmentas MB and started as a physical fashion house in 2009. Co-founder Indre Viltrakyte in an interview with the online publication “Edition – Modern Luxury”. “So we know where our strength is. We don’t pretend to be as web3-savvy as a native web3 brand. Still, with the apparel market being the 4th largest market in the world with a US$1.5 trillion in size, I’m pretty sure the mass adoption of web3 fashion will come via already established physical brands acting as a bridge between the physical and digital worlds. And that’s where we position ourselves.”
“Each year billions of clothing items are produced and, unfortunately, a significant chunk of them only gather dust before they eventually end up in the landfill,” she commented. “But what if we could redirect people’s interest in newness and passion for updating their wardrobe to the digital realm? By enabling the consumer to experience the same emotions – joy, happiness, excitement – of wearing what they love in the virtual space, the shopper can cater to the same impulses without the planet having to bear the costs.”
Viltrakyte believes that phygital items are the transitional step for the fashion industry that will encourage the public to take a keener interest in the digital space. Having recently launched the genesis collection ‘The Rebels: From the Underground’, she continues to explore the synergy between the physical and virtual fashion.
Fewer items, same customer loyalty.
There are a few perks to having a digital equivalent of a physical item. In the fashion context, additional benefits can be embedded into the digital asset encouraging users to resell it in second-hand marketplaces, therefore supporting responsible consumption.
Viltrakyte noted that there would likely be certain incentives to keep ownership of both pieces (physical and digital) together, especially if detaching the virtual one from the real-life piece would lessen the value of the physical. New solutions, intertwining the real and the virtual, may pose precedence for fractional ownership as well, as a group of people would be able to own a piece of either the digital or physical version of an item, or both.
“Since all pieces in the physical collection will have a digital twin, it may also intrigue more fashion enthusiasts to delve into the so-called metaverses – virtual worlds – growing public interest in digital wearables and their applicability going forward.“— Indre Viltrakyte
An example of such technology is the recently launched PBT (Physical Backed Token), enabling one to tie a physical item to a digital token on the Ethereum blockchain. “10 people could own one Hermes bag, and have a valid claim to use the physical piece for a certain time, after which it’d be passed on to a different person within the group. Thus, all members could get to use the bag, while also having the proof of digital ownership – an immutable proof that you are a loyal Hermes customer.”
Impact on fast fashion
“Realistically, I don’t think this will put a hard stop to this type of clothing,” said Viltrakyte, yet emphasized that it could drastically cut the demand for it. “Digital fashion can significantly reduce the so-called vanity shopping – buying unnecessary items for a temporary dopamine rush by recreating similar experiences in the virtual space with augmented reality filters and/or buying a digital clothing piece.
Undoubtedly, brands will figure out how to make it the “mood booster” people usually seek when impulse shopping.” In the end, fashion is a way of self-expression as well as a symbol of belonging to a certain group of people. Viltrakyte notes digital fashion that can provide verifiable scarcity will offer the same benefits, and more, but without the same carbon footprint. “For the Alpha generation, it is the future because they already perceive physical and digital values as the same. Owning a digital piece, instead of a physical one, may very likely become the new norm, interpreted as a badge of honor for the eco-conscious consumers, showing they care more about the planet."
The MetaverseThe metaverse can broadly be described as a virtual world where users can meet, work, play, shop, and socialize in real time within simulated scenarios. Even though more virtual worlds are in the process of being created, the topic has gained traction as well within the apparel world with Facebook's rebranding to Meta, prompting enterprises to consider how they can seemingly develop economies, trade with other companies, and form alliances in new and imaginative ways as the metaverse use cases and applications grow broader. One may like the idea or not in light of ecological challenges caused by the massive overproduction of apparel. Digital clothing can indeed help to limit impulsive fashion purchases.
The Rebels: From the Underground’ – a phygital fashion collection with over 50 is the largest Web3 fashion edition to date. All physical collection items can be acquired with cryptocurrency.
The collection came to reality in partnership with Boson Protocol, which worked with ‘The Rebels’ during the first-ever Metaverse Fashion Week in Decentraland. Photos: The Rebels