Virtual reality platform Decentraland has launched Metaverse Fashion Week, a digital fashion week where brands including The Fabricant will showcase new clothing collections in the metaverse between 24 to 27 March.

Over the four-day period, Decentraland will host a series of runway shows, afterparties and pop-up shops with brands exhibiting digital garments on avatars walking on virtual catwalks.

Unlike many traditional fashion weeks that only permit invited guests, Metaverse Fashion Week is free and open to everyone. Users simply log into the browser-based platform Decentraland.

"MVFW will be accessible to anyone and everyone across the globe," said Giovanna Casimiro, head of Metaverse Fashion Week (MVFW).

"One of the drawbacks of traditional fashion shows is that they are too restrictive to the average person, almost always being invite-only," she told Dezeen.

"MVFW will be free and obviously as it will be digital, all you will need to attend is a computer and an internet connection."

During the fashion event, users will also be able to scan a QR code to see a render of the item, before using funds in their crypto wallet to purchase items as non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

The purchased NFTs can then be worn on the user's own avatar. Some can also be traded for the physical version of the item, with brands working with brand platform Boson Protocol to sell physical goods through the metaverse.

At MVFW, digital fashion house The Fabricant will showcase designs such as its Hemdrok Jacket and Nehalennia Dropsuit, a long-sleeved leotard.

In the open-access spirit of Decentraland, the brand has invited attendees to submit their own reworked designs of The Fabricant's Season 1 range in their own fabric and colour combinations. Six winning creations will be selected for the runway via a public vote.

The Fabricant's co-founder Amber Jae Slooten believes that the fashion show points to a future where traditional fashion weeks are no longer necessary, especially given the negative impact they have on the climate.

"As we're presenting ourselves in online spaces more and more I feel like a fashion gathering in Decentraland would be a great experimentation on how much fashion weeks in real life are still necessary to be held," she told Dezeen.

"If this fashion week facilitates a place and time for people to come together online and not have to fly across the world and create all of those physical items/waste to produce 10-minute fashion shows, this would save a lot of valuable resources," she added.

The event will close with digital couture fashion brand Auroboros. Its digital collection Biomimicry will be auctioned as a series of NFTs.

The collection was first shown at London Fashion Week 2021 and a crystallising gown from the collection was later showcased at London Design Festival.

According to the designers, MVFW is a pivotal moment in the fashion calendar as it brings digital fashion to a much wider community.

"Decentraland is currently one of the highest populated metaverses allowing for immediate commerce and 3D interaction," said Alissa Aulbekova and Paula Sello, co-founders of Auroboros.

"With mass adoption for both the crypto ecosystem and more recently now the fashion industry, MVFW is a defining moment for everyone creating and investing in digital fashion," Sello told Dezeen.

Alongside digital fashion companies, a number of brands that traditionally create physical garments are also set to take part in the event. These include Italian luxury fashion house Dolce and Gabbana and German fashion company Hugo Boss.

While Decentraland is calling its fashion week the "first ever" in the metaverse, fashion brands Collina Strada and Mimi Wade have previously hosted fashion shows in online metaverse IMVU.

Gucci hosted a virtual exhibition in online game Roblox to mark its centenary where gamers could explore the Italian fashion designer Alessandro Michele's key designs and buy rare virtual collectables.

Previous digital fashion shows include Jonathan Simkhai's Fall/Winter 2022 runway show, which was presented in the virtual world Second Life during New York Fashion Week.

Images courtesy of Decentraland unless otherwise stated.

Metaverse Fashion Week will launch on 24 March. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

Source: https://www.dezeen.com/