Karlie Kloss wants to make metaverse fashion more widely accepted with the help of Roblox.
Even in the metaverse, Karlie Kloss is fashion-forward. With the goal of showcasing the work of five fashion designers that produce totally virtual items that consumers can purchase to dress their avatars, the supermodel is beginning a partnership with the gaming platform Roblox. Kloss hopes to promote internet fashion designers through this collaboration and encourage the mainstream fashion business to start treating virtual fashion seriously.
Kloss has spent the last 15 years working with the finest designers in the world as one of the most well-known models in the world. She has a penchant for technology, though. Eight years ago, she enrolled in a coding course at the Flatiron School in New York City, and two years later, she founded Kode with Klossy, a nonprofit organization aimed at introducing young girls to coding and assisting them in advancing in the tech industry. This partnership with Roblox or collaboration appears to be a logical progression in many ways. Roblox was first released in 2006, but its craze during the pandemic propelled it to 50 million daily active users. The company claims that some of the most well-liked games on the platform simulate or engage in role-playing. Designer Samuel Jordan, in his 20s, goes by the Roblox alias Builder Boy. He said he didn’t realize that many people just like to spend time there and meet other people until he started playing. My generation simply hangs out there, she said. With her three sisters, Kloss spent her youth playing video games, but she hasn’t seen the gaming business take female gamers’ demands into account. She explains that she has always appreciated how playing video games let you access fantastic experiences, play any sport, and explore new worlds. But when it came to choosing avatars and the attire those avatars would wear, female characters had extremely few options. On Roblox, thousands of designers have already started producing and selling virtual clothing. The Robux currency that users can purchase can be used to purchase garments that range in price from a few cents to many dollars; 20% of users change their avatar’s attire every day. On the site, 21 million virtual articles of clothing were produced just last year. For instance, Jordan produces avatar accessories that brought in more than a million dollars the previous year. With their collaboration with Roblox, Kloss hoped to draw attention to the talent of virtual fashion designers like Jordan. The Fashion Klossette Designer Showcase will feature the five designers Kloss chose, and each will have a pop-up shop. Visitors to these stores can try on the outfits and purchase virtual clothing and accessories. (Each user receives six products for free and has the option to add more from $0.50 to $1.) The aesthetics of the designers are diverse, ranging from RynityRift’s cyberpunk designs to Builder Boy’s beachy atmosphere. Self-expression is important to Roblox users, according to Jordan. The most well-liked costumes, according to him, are those that express emotion rather than being the best-designed ones. Virtual clothing can reveal a lot about the wearer, and it can change depending on how they’re feeling (angry, pleased, lonely, etc.). The gaming and fashion sectors haven’t really interacted all that much in the past. However, as gaming has grown in popularity, it has been more difficult for fashion designers to ignore: More than 2.5 billion people worldwide, including 60% of Americans, nearly half of whom are women, play video games. Several fashion businesses and designers have started to venture into virtual fashion over the past few years. Today, businesses like Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Burberry among others create clothing for avatars. And Drest, a video game, produces digital renditions of the most recent designer collections. Kloss states, “There is a legitimate company that is already being established online, but I care greatly about the democratized access to fashion that virtual fashion provides. Some experts are worried that as more fashion businesses produce digital clothing, virtual fashion would maintain the same injustices as offline fashion, such as excluding minorities and those with limited financial resources. Kloss, however, thinks that virtual fashion has unrealized promise and is still in its infancy. Kloss hopes that, among other things, her work with Kode with Klossy will inspire more women to pursue careers as game designers. She also hopes that her partnership with Roblox will empower platform users who are just starting out as designers. She also thinks that unlike real-life fashion, which hasn’t been inclusive of all body shapes, virtual fashion could be. For instance, Roblox clothing is created on a platform called “Layered Clothing” and is made to accommodate any avatar’s body shape. She claims, “clothing can not only fit any form but also defy gravity or be on fire”. The options are truly limitless.
