Meta will open mega virtual clothing store for avatars with major luxury brands

Source: Observatorioblockchain / Jennifer Maldonado

Meta, Mark Zuckerberg’s metaverse and social media company, will launch a virtual mega store with designer clothing for avatars next week. Through Facebook, Zuckerberg reported that the store will be available to the billions of registered users on its social media platforms Facebook and Instagram. However, it is users in the United States, Canada, Thailand, and Mexico who will initially be able to purchase outfits for their avatars in the store. 

Prada, Gucci, Thom Browne and Balenciaga were some of the luxury brands that accompanied the launch of the new virtual clothing store. All of these firms have been exploring the Metaverse and NFTs this year. 

Meta and virtual clothing for avatars

Through its new virtual luxury fashion store, Meta presents its users with the possibility of personalizing their avatars with designer clothes, according to their styles and preferences. The metaverse company is also providing luxury brands, such as Balenciaga, with an innovative alternative to bring luxury to the metaverse and reach more consumers. 

Zuckerberg has said that both users of Facebook and Instagram, as well as those of the instant messaging application Messenger, will be able to access the virtual clothing store. To buy 3D outfits to wear through their avatars on social networks. Zuckerberg also commented that he plans to bring this experience to his VR metaverse, Horizon Worlds, very soon and will add new luxury brands in the future to further enrich the user experience and continue to expand his business. 

Both Zuckerberg and Eva Chen, Instagram’s director of fashion partnerships, debuted new outfits from Balenciaga and other brands through their avatars. Zuckerberg’s avatar sported a full biker outfit, sports attire and a formal suit, according to the Twitter post. While Chen went casual and casual with the outfits she sported a graphic representation of her. 

The Metaverse as a space for monetization and cultural expression

For Zuckerberg «virtual goods will be an important way to express yourself in the Metaverse and a great driver of the creative economy. » Hence, the importance of being able to look good through our virtual representations and allowing creators to monetize their work. In the future, Meta will allow designers to create their own clothes and offer them from the virtual store. 

Oddly enough, for many people today, virtual fashion has been shaping up to be the next big thing in the fashion industry. Brands like Balenciaga, Zara, H&M, Gucci, Prada, Ralph Lauren, Louis Vuitton, among others, are already part of the digital fashion market. According to Morgan Stanley analysts, in the next decade, fashion will be a market dominated by digital consumers. So the virtual fashion business could generate up to an additional 50 billion dollars in 2030. 

Balenciaga’s entry into the virtual world

In the case of Balenciaga, the Spanish fashion house that belongs to the Kering Luxury group, entered the virtual world through the Fortnite platform. Balenciaga began marketing virtual outfits through Fortnite in September of last year. In March of this year, she also participated in the biggest fashion event held in the Metaverse: the Metaverse Fashion Week , held in Decentraland. 

Likewise, Balenciaga recently revealed that it would add cryptocurrencies to its payment options, partnering with a crypto-asset service platform to do so. Cryptocurrency payments will be available from its stores in the United States, the fashion house reported. The brand will also implement cryptocurrency payments in its online stores, allowing thousands of brand users and consumers around the world to pay with crypto assets.