FN Insights

Digitization reimagined how products are made and sold. Now, it’s helping the fashion industry compete in the gaming world.

Could the next big fashion trend be completely digital?

Fashion may be tied to aesthetics, but it is also a multisensory experience. For creators and consumers alike, the way a product feels can be as meaningful as how the item looks when worn — and for leather goods and accessories, even smell comes into play. Which is why the fashion industry’s shift toward the virtual world might seem counterintuitive. Or perhaps not.

“Fashion is the last creative industry to embrace digitization, and the change is long overdue,” said Michaela Larosse, head of communications at digital fashion house The Fabricant. “If you look at film, music or photography, the transition to digital practices is already a fundamental and growing part of every industry. We already spend so much of our lives online and the near-global lockdown forced by the pandemic enabled the fashion industry and consumers to wake up to the need to digitize.”

The main focus of these digital e orts has been to support the selling of physical product. For the past few years, footwear and clothing designers have been increasingly digitizing their back-end processes, replacing hand-drawn models with software prototypes. And others are getting creative with their approach to e-commerce, developing interactive experiences through augmented and virtual reality, or using 3D product assets to make shopping online more reliable.

But a small — yet growing — group of businesses are focusing on the virtual experience as the end goal in itself. Building o the huge growth in the gaming and online entertainment worlds, they are making it possible for brands to reach new customers and sell them product, even if it’s worn by just their avatar.

At Drest, a fashion styling app founded by former fashion editor and