Brands often lag in digital fashion due to cost considerations, lack of investment in digital literacy, lack of expertise to integrate understanding in consumer behaviour. Overall, agility and innovation gaps can hinder brands from keeping up with the dynamic landscape of digital fashion. XR Couture – a prominent start-up led by young and dynamic entrepreneur Subham Jain focusing on metaverse as a digital fashion solution company – is addressing the complex supply chain and the limited industry standards.
The company has taken up the challenge to provide a digital wearables’ platform that generates and distributes hyper-realistic digital fashion items for the metaverse. The start-up believes that, in the not-too-distant future, fashion business will undergo a transformation with the assistance of some tech-savvy fashionistas.
Use of AI and AR in digital apparel for design detailing
XR Couture has always been meticulous about utilising latest technology and has collaborated with Imagined Outfits, a company that specialises in digital outfits made with AI for images, to create stunning virtual fashion fits that can be worn in photographs. XR provides individuals with a better level of creative expression, art and digital imaging, owing to AI and human cooperation. Apart from collaborating with Imagined Outfits to bring AI into digital fashion, XR Couture has also teamed up with Snapchat to allow users to wear their digital wearables in real time using AR and Snap Lens technologies.
Similarly Nike uses AR to boost brand awareness, attract younger customers and improve the customer experience. It even launched Nike Fit, an AR application that accurately measures foot size through a smartphone, saving time and cost for consumers. Nike has also dipped its toes into the metaverse, acquiring RTFKT, which develops digital versions of sneakers through digital overlays. It is one of the first apparel brands to actively engage in the development of the metaverse.
LVMH claims that AR is becoming a standard practice for e-commerce, media and advertising. It uses the technology to create digital overlays of its garments, hosting fashion shows in the digital realm with its help. Louis Vuitton is also not behind when it comes to tech-oriented applications. It has recently opened a pop-up store in Paris, in which visitors can use AR app to interact with the company’s animated mascots, named Zoom with Friends, as part of their ‘Walk in the Park’ collection.
While XR Couture is extensively using Gen AI and AR/VR, the future according to Subham Jain is bright for humans who don the roles of designers and creators. He says, “In the past, artists used to design with pen and paper, but now they use tools like AutoCAD, SketchUp and other Adobe software like Illustrator and Photoshop. But did they replace the artists? No, but in actuality, the technologies just streamlined the entire design process, giving designers more time to focus on other vital tasks. At XR Couture, we are of the opinion that tech should work in cohesion with humans.”
| “Currently, our Meta Drip outfits are dazzling on Decentraland which is a game-like social media platform that uses Ethereum to facilitate connection and experiences.” Subham Jain Founder and CEO, XR Couture |
Focus on making metaverse a mainstream concept
A metaverse store is a smart strategy for a business to reach a new generation of customers that prefer to spend their time online and in virtual worlds rather than in the real world. These customers aren’t interested in viewing a massive billboard or visiting a flagship store in the most luxurious mall. They prefer virtual platforms where they may socialise, play games and even work. XR Couture is building an ecosystem in India for metaverse integration into fashion businesses that has several advantages over a typical bricks-and-mortar business. Subham and team are eyeing at three of the following strategies for ensuring a seamless metaverse implementation in India.
Massive User Group
A metaverse shop may tap into a massive and diversified user community that is already active and engaged in virtual worlds. Metaverse platforms have hit an all-time high of 40 million users, with an average daily online time of 2.6 hours. This means that a company may potentially draw millions of customers to its virtual store, as opposed to the restricted foot traffic that a traditional bricks-and-mortar store can provide.
For example, Gucci’s virtual store on Roblox drew over 20 million visitors in two weeks, proving the brand’s appeal to a younger and more varied audience.
Similarly, Ralph Lauren has debuted ‘The Ralph Lauren Winter Escape’ which is the first-of-its-kind holiday-themed experience that allows fashion fans to explore the world of Ralph Lauren through the metaverse and builds on the company’s commitment to digital innovation.
Tommy Hilfiger has also teamed up with Tilting Point for unveiling a fashion video game named ‘FashionVerse’ which will host recurring two-week virtual events known as ‘Pop-Ups’, collaborating with prominent fashion entertainment brands, offering players an immersive experience in fashion styling within their unique virtual worlds.
Primary Target Audience
A metaverse store is primarily for Gen Z, who are frequent users of immersive digital platforms and offer significant business opportunities.
For example, Balenciaga, the worldwide fashion company worth more than US $ 1.7 billion, has proved the efficacy of metaverse-based advertising. In 2020, the well-known high-end clothing company became the first to offer its autumn clothing line digitally as a video game. The computer game, called ‘Afterworld’, attempted to blend interaction with the fashion world by enabling users to digitally try on and wear Balenciaga using their avatars while playing the game. In reality, the brand advertising was so carefully distributed across the gaming platform that players were not overburdened with it, yet we were still urged to connect with the company after playing.
Exciting Expertise
Metaverse stores like H&M, Nike, Mango, Adidas and Puma can provide more innovative and entertaining methods to display items and engage with consumers. The businesses may build strategies in ways that defy physical rules, such as teleportation, shifting colours and forms or interactive components. They can also develop gamified experiences for their customers, such as a treasure hunt or a quest, which will reward them with digital things or discounts. These features shall boost consumer engagement and loyalty, as well as increase word-of-mouth and social media activity.
Digital Runway: Future of XR Couture
The company’s next leap is to make interoperability possible, which will allow users to carry their digital wardrobe across multiple platforms without the necessity to purchase each item individually. This will revamp the digital fashion industry and increase revenue potential for brands and creators while lessening the frustration of users.
“Our first step towards realising this vision is our inaugural NFT collection, Meta Drip. This collection showcases the full potential of XR Couture, offering customers hyper-realistic fashion assets that are not only visually stunning but also versatile enough to be used across multiple platforms. Currently, our Meta Drip outfits are dazzling on Decentraland which is a game-like social media platform that uses Ethereum to facilitate connection and experiences; similarly, Snap AR empowers artists worldwide to transform the way we create, explore and play. Further, we are in the process of expanding to other platforms such as The SandBox and more,” said Subham.
