Fashion x Gaming Gains Momentum in E-Commerce Partnerships

• Louis Vuitton has designed a number of virtual garments and skins for online multiplayer game League of Legends. The skins are unlocked through gameplay, while real-life counterpart items will be released in the coming months.

• Former Harper’s Bazaar editor Lucy Yeomans launched early access to Drest last month – a digital styling mobile game that has partnered with Farfetch. Gucci is among the brands sponsoring challenges within the app, which allows players to unlock levels by styling a virtual avatar. The outfits are then available to purchase in real life via the app.

• Mobile gaming and styling app Ada is a collaboration between System magazine co-founders Alexia Niedzielski and Elizabeth von Guttman and Korean game creator Andy Ku. Backed by Sina (the Chinese media conglomerate that owns social networking site Sina Weibo), the app has already launched in China, and will debut worldwide next year. Like Drest, Ada features in-game and physical e-commerce opportunities.

• Burberry debuted its online B Bounce game to coincide with the release of its new monogrammed puffer jacket this October. The game allows users to customise their avatar in a puffer of their choice and play for personalised gifs and digital jackets, with the highest overall scorer winning a real jacket from the collection.

The key here is to use gaming as a bridge between consumers’ physical and virtual lives. Brands would be smart to monetise their games by partnering with real-world retailers, where digital clothing also has real-world counterparts, and vice versa. Additionally, while creativity is an important aspect of fashion styling games, it is equally important that players feel they are still progressing through the game or earning new achievements.

For more on fashion’s intersections with virtual reality and digital clothing, see Fashion’s Digital Future, Digital Commerce: Retail’s Unreal Opportunities and Retail’s Avatar Opportunity: Fashion for Virtual Alter Egos.