Video Games and High Fashion?
If you’re a fashion lover, you’ve probably played your fair share of fashion styling games on your phone or tablet. These games allow users to step into the shoes of fashion stylists, using creativity and artistry to put together the perfect outfit. While playing these games, players explore designer brands and promising new labels. However, fashion has never played a prominent role in games not based on fashion until now. Clothing from major designers has become more common in everything from RPGs to adventure games.
Fashion may not come to mind when you think of your favorite video games, but many gamers want their virtual characters to look good. When you visit an online casino to play a game like Betway roulette, you’ve probably noticed that the characters are often dressed to the nines. It’s not only online casinos paying attention to fashion; even survival horror games such as Dead by Daylight include fashion-forward characters.
The Video Game Fashion Runway
Statistics from the video game industry show that 64% of adults in the US play video games. Many of the most prominent fashion houses in the world have noticed, seeking to capitalize on this audience. They’re reaching out to the video game audience by creating digital fashion lines exclusive to specific games.
Once upon a time, people turned to fashion magazines to stay up to date on the latest styles. However, print fashion magazines are dying out as millennials prefer to learn the latest fashion trends on social media and cultivate fashion ecosystems within video games. It’s no longer enough for a game to have a gripping storyline; gamers want their characters to look good too.
The Industry’s Biggest Names
One of the biggest names in the fashion industry, Louis Vuitton, was one of the first fashion designers to make inroads into video games with its SERIES 4 Spring-Summer 2016 collection advertising campaign. The Louis Vuitton campaign featured Lighting from the Final Fantasy video game series.
The designer cast Lighting’s avatar in its fashion universe to appeal to the more than 100 million gamers who play Final Fantasy worldwide. While Louis Vuitton fashion didn’t appear in the Final Fantasy series, the fact that the designer used an avatar to reach out to gamers shows how common crossover between the fashion and video game industries has become in recent years.
It doesn’t end with Louis Vuitton. Like music has shaped fashion and video games, popular fashion brands want to leave their mark on video games. Advancements in technology have rendered video game characters more lifelike, making it easy for fashion designers to incorporate fashion into games without losing any quality.
Roblox and Gucci
Gucci’s collaboration with Roblox represented its entry into the metaverse with House’s Gucci Garden Archetypes. The virtual Gucci Garden was only available between May 17th and May 31st, 2021, but it was enough time to provide a glimpse into the future of fashion and gaming. Gucci has always sought to be at the forefront of new trends, from accessibility and sustainability in high fashion to exploring ways to showcase its brand in video games.
The Gucci Garden demonstrated the brand’s commitment to exploring the future of technology. The brand’s collaboration with Roblox gave users the opportunity to experience a virtual world where they began as a blank canvas, absorbing elements throughout the exhibition. Each user’s journey through the virtual world was unique, and visitors could purchase limited-edition avatar items at the end. With the Roblox venture, Gucci provided a master class in how the fashion industry could fit into the video game world.
Grand Theft Auto V
Players have cruised around in Grand Theft Auto V’s virtual online world for almost a decade. The video game series is known for the rap, pop, and rock music that pumps from the speakers in a player’s car as they explore Los Santos.
The game has also become known for the fashionable clothes its characters wear. As part of its Los Santos Tuners update last year, GTA characters sported clothes designed by streetwear label Born x Raised. Another example of how fashion has become integral to the gaming universe, and the trend shows no signs of slowing down.