Stepping up the game: Fashion and game collaboration
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At a glance, it might seem like there is a wide gap between the fashion and the gaming industry. There isn't a common ground between the two. However, they unconventionally mix; they both explore often avant-garde ideas, escapism and allow for characterisation.
As the pandemic prolongs and social restrictions are tightened, the need to purchase clothes is declining, especially for high fashion brands. Before the pandemic, luxury fashion brands’ consignment was projected to double to $51 billion from $24 billion. However, the pandemic has affected market behaviour greatly. The market for the resale of fashion products is growing exponentially and the value is projected to grow from $36 billion this year to $77 billion in 2025. In contrast, the high fashion industry in 2020 experienced a staggering 23% decline in sales.
In another development, even as vaccines become available and social restrictions eased, the gaming industry continues to flourish. In the first quarter of 2020 alone, consumers spent $14.9 billion on video games, which translates to 30% sales growth. This was partly driven by the 47% increase in console sales as of March 2020. In total, game hardware sales grew 81% compared to that in the previous year. The game industry is projected to garner $175 billion in revenue with player numbers estimated to grow to 729 million in 2021.
This situation reflects the necessity for the luxury fashion industry to be more adaptable to survive. Exclusivity has always been the industry’s most notable selling point, but this characteristic is also the reason why the industry is slow at catching up with the latest tech developments. However, some brands appear to step up their marketing game and open new doors. As a matter of fact, the fashion industry seems to have been experimenting on tapping into the gaming industry’s audience in the last few years.
Image: Final Fantasy character wearing Prada
It was 2012 when Prada was seen taking part in Final Fantasy’s 25th anniversary. The characters of Final Fantasy XIII-2, such as Lightning, Noel and Snow, were seen in Japanese fashion magazine ARENA Homme sporting the fashion brand’s Spring collection. In 2016, Louis Vuitton also collaborated with the franchise, under which the fashion house used Lightning to model in the “Series 4” Spring-Summer campaign. This time, the character of one of Japan’s most successful game franchises of all time was seen posing not only in photos, but also a short video.
These might be some of the earliest and notable collaborations between the two industries and not the last. Other brands seem to be taking notes as we start seeing more of this collaboration on various platforms.
In 2019, Moschino Creative Director Jeremy Scott sought inspiration from The Sims. Moschino Stuff, the product of Moschino x The Sims, presented the opportunity for gamers to access Moschino’s collections without having to spend a lot of money. At the same time, Moschino managed to introduce its products to a demographic that might not be too familiar with the brand. Not only creating access to luxury products in an intangible way, Scott also managed to bring the game to life through actual ready-to-wear collection in the same year.
Image: League of Legend trophy case designed by Louis Vuitton
Also in 2019, Louis Vuitton tapped into the gaming industry by taking part in League of Legends 2019 Championship. The French fashion house created a trophy case for this championship. Later in 2020, Gucci dabbled in the virtual space by creating visual sneakers available on its app. The world-renowned fashion house even monetised the digital shoes for $12. This is a strategic move as the world entered the pandemic earlier that year.
In the same year, the social-simulation game Animal Crossing: New Horizons became a big hit and showed a deeper insight on consumer behaviour. The game, which focuses mostly on scavenging, island life and completing tasks given by Tom Nook– the iconic Japanese racoon (tanuki) NPC–, found that consumers are concerned about their looks not only in reality, but also in the digital world. This is shown by the growing appreciation for in-game apparel customisations, as shown by Nook Street Market (@nookstreetmarket).
Nook Street Market is a project developed by three friends based in New York: graphic designer and photographer Vivian Loh, DJ and designer Michele Yue and model Fernanda Ly. Starting from exploring the Pro Design app embedded in the game, Nook Street Market blossomed into a platform for fashion brands to tap into the gaming world.
The project focuses on recreating runway or other iconic looks from luxury brands and turning them into wearable in-game outfits. These looks are then uploaded to a cloud where many designs are available and can be downloaded via a code. This allows for a wide selection of apparel to customise character’s look.
As the second best-selling Nintendo game in 2021, Animal Crossing attracted big names, such as FILA and Coach. Even fashion brand Marc Jacobs, in collaboration with Animal Crossing-based fashion blog @AnimalCrossingFashionArchive on Instagram, went as far as recreating six downloadable looks to be used in the game.
Michele Yue said that the increasing necessity for people to self-brand in the virtual space, especially now that we are in a pandemic, is a “natural progression.” It also helps that the digital space democratises people from social and financial restrictions in self-expression. It turns out to be a preferable option in this situation and a more sustainable one, but the team is aware that digital will never replace real life. If anything, Vivian Loh is of the opinion that the opportunity the digital space offers for fashion is a way to enhance the existing scene.
Both the fashion brand and the gaming franchise are reaping benefits from collaborations like this as both are expanding their audience base to a possibly whole new demographic. Both are trading visibility and access. Especially during the time when social restrictions come and go, the gaming industry offers lucrative ways to reach new audience and explore the possibilities the fashion industry has not achieved in the physical world.