Risk, returns & timeframes illustration
1 min read
November 22, 2022
by
Belinda Nash

Let’s get phygital! 🏋

Fashion’s getting phygital! This year’s NYFW saw luxury brands hit the catwalk while simultaneously streaming on Roblox. Fashion houses have also embraced gaming and NFTs using Microsoft tech to build games and share content on Fortnite. Who else is shaking up the phygital runway?
Risk, returns & timeframes illustration
1 min read
November 22, 2022
by
Belinda Nash

Let’s get phygital! 🏋

Fashion’s getting phygital! This year’s NYFW saw luxury brands hit the catwalk while simultaneously streaming on Roblox. Fashion houses have also embraced gaming and NFTs using Microsoft tech to build games and share content on Fortnite. Who else is shaking up the phygital runway?
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The fashion heavyweight who trashed bags and made Crocs even uglier, Balenciaga, is bowing out of Twitter. Is it ’cos they think the welcome-back-Trump platform’s about to get really trashy and ugly? 🤷‍♂️

It’s not the first digital power play for the fashion house. In 2020, while we Zoomed in undies, Balenciaga built their game Afterworld for Paris Fashion Week, which used Microsoft (MSFT) Mixed Reality Capture technology. Last year they forged another phygital first, designing digital drops for Fortnite - of which Sony (SONY) owns around 5% - also sold in-store. Plus, they flew - and catered for - Disney’s (DIS) Simpsons cast who debuted on their runway. Sacré D’oh! 🥐

Yep, fashion’s gettin’ phygital. Which is why it was under the spotlight at last week’s Vogue Business x Google Summit (GOOG, GOOGL) following front-row fervour at this year’s NYFW. The world’s OG fashion week saw Tommy Hilfiger, a PVH brand (PVH), killing their catwalk style IRL while simultaneously strutting on Tommy Play on Roblox (RBLX). Also, killing it on Roblox was Carolina Herrera. They sold 432 NFTs within four hours after listing of their Karlie Kloss floral dress ‘Klossette’ - one reselling at nearly 100,000% higher. 

Bossing phygital is Hugo Boss, too, this month launching NFTs to support mental health, giving NFT owners real life product discounts. And could MAC’s charitable NFT style rub off on Tom Ford? 💄 MAC owner Estée Lauder (EL) is poised to buy the luxury brand for US$2.8 billion in their largest acquisition yet.

Brands are also taking reality to the next level. To celebrate their 50th anniversary, Nike (NKE) launched in-store 3D augmented reality experiences using QR codes. And last week hairspo fans were ec-static when Unilever (UL) brand Tresemmé lathered up their own virtual reality, sending fresh tresses down the runway. Whatever happens in the phygital future, could they just please right the wrongs of sad beige? ☹️

Belinda Nash
Finance writer
Linkedin

We’re not financial advisors and Hatch news is for your information only. However dazzling our writing, none of it is a recommendation to invest in any of the companies or funds mentioned. If you want support before making any investment decisions, consider seeking financial advice from a licensed provider. We’ve done our best to ensure all information is current when we pushed ‘publish’ on this article. And of course, with investing, your money isn’t guaranteed to grow and there’s always a risk you might lose money.

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