Personalisation, the metaverse and NFTs: The technology fuelling fashion’s next phase

Vogue Business Members can watch the full panel recordings from the technology sessions below. Not a Member? See what you missed at the summit here, and then register to join. E-commerce strategies and channels are evolving, while concepts newer to fashion, including the metaverse and NFTs, are suddenly gaining priority on brands’ to-do lists. Technology is shaping fashion’s decisions, and at the Vogue Business and Google Summit, we gathered executives working on the front lines of fashion’s digital future together to hear how they’re planning out their next moves and what comes next. That includes who they’re hiring, how they measure success and how they consider experimentation to be a key part of their brand DNAs. What to know about NFTs NFTs have made headlines for commanding high price points, and luxury fashion brands have been diving in head first, despite relative nascence among fashion consumers. Senior innovation editor Maghan McDowell led a conversation about what non-fungible tokens are, and why fashion should care. Marjorie Hernandez, founder of fashion-focused blockchain Lukso and co-founder of fashion NFT marketplace The Dematerialised, explained that NFTs are a digital presentation of a good that is irreplaceable and unique, just like in the physical world. The first true fashion NFT was designed by Amber Jae Slooten, co-founder and creative director of The Fabricant, whose “iridescence” dress sold for $9,500, or 54 ETH, in 2019, which would be approximately $250,000 today. “This was a defining moment in which people started to take digital fashion seriously, because they saw how this dress never physically existed, yet could dress multiple bodies… all from our studio in Amsterdam,” Slooten said. Since then, brands including Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Burberry have created NFTs. For Burberry, using NFTs and serial numbers in games is a way to provide scarcity and collectability, which is something not previously possible in the gaming environments, said Rudy Koch, co-founder and SVP of business development at Mythical Games. Within minutes of Burberry’s NFT drop, not only were they sold out, but Burberry characters were being sold at eight times their original value. Going forward, Hernandez recommends that brands think beyond marketing into the long-term value of NFTs being a gateway to experiences as the technology advances. She cautions that brands should be mindful about who mints their NFTs, as proving ownership is what ultimately gives value. “If we can’t prove we did something in a point in time, they become valueless. Brands need to control the NFTs and make decisions in the digital world just as they would in the physical world.” Fashion’s role in the metaverse The metaverse is considered the successor to the social media era of the web and equally as impactful to brands, but beyond that, the concept can be hard to define. In this conversation about fashion in the metaverse, Maghan McDowell spoke with metaverse consultant Cathy Hackl, chief metaverse officer and CEO of the Futures Intelligence Group, who said that it’s often easiest to think of it as “your digital lifestyle catching up with your physical lifestyle”. Brands have already used some of the key technologies involved, including augmented reality, gaming, NFTs and 5G. Revenue from virtual worlds, not including NFTs, could approach $400 billion by 2025, according to Ark Invest. A key example of a metaverse platform is Roblox, which has expanded beyond its reputation as a gaming platform into a place for social shared experiences, said Christina Wootton, VP of brand partnerships. Already, brands including Nike, Stella McCartney, Gucci and Vans have partnered with Roblox. “Fashion at its core is fundamentally about fantasy, self-expression and creativity, and in many ways it doesn't surprise me that most brands are diving in,” says Rachel Waller, global VP of channel innovation at Burberry, who is responsible for the luxury brand’s owned channels across social media, messaging and digital innovation, including metaverse projects. While business goals for new projects aren’t realistic, Waller says that Burberry evaluates metaverse projects based on how to tell the brand’s stories in new ways or to reach new communities. Her team includes collaboration from those in marketing, editorial, social media, technology and beyond. “It’s an unpredictable ark but one we need to figure out how to experiment with,” she says. Overall, while the metaverse might be at “peak hype”, as Hackl says — only heightened by the endorsement of Facebook-turned-Meta — brands should take time to authentically tell the brand’s story over time, and partner with endemic creators who have expertise in each specific space. E-commerce 3.0 During a session on the next phase of e-commerce, Google Cloud vice president of retail, Carrie Tharp stressed that consumers don’t think in terms of channels. “They think about interactions with the brands,” she said, noting that two-thirds of consumers expect personalisation and real time assistance in their journey, according to Google data. How do you strike a balance between the need for personalisation and privacy concerns? “I see evolution with transparency and access going forward, consumers having more understanding of what you’re collecting and why and feel good about that, many retailers thinking about how to create programmes that make your customers feel good about that information exchange. At the end, customers vote with their feet. ” Adding digital to physical and physical to digital is key. “We look at the digitalisation of the physical experience. We just launched the Browns store that has a strong backbone of in-store technology,” said Carol Hilsum, Farfetch senior director of product innovation. Conversely, Farfetch looks online at the wave of technology including virtual try on “as a new playground” for multisensory experiences. While omnichannel has finally become a reality, the metaverse is coming and brands need to be ready. At LVMH, omnichannel includes the metaverse. “It’s about enriching the client experience, finding the right level of execution in terms of standards of quality. We’ll not just go for it because it’s fun and cool. We want to make sure it enhances the perception of the brand,” says Michael David, chief omnichannel officer at LVMH. “If you think about luxury, you think about craftsmanship, history, legacy — these topics are very conducive to this type of development. Quite honestly, it is going to be years — five, 10, 15, maybe 20 years — before we can completely immerse ourselves into that metaverse. A lot needs to be invented at this point but it’s definitely starting.” To watch more Vogue Business and Google Summit sessions, you can find all of our content here. Comments, questions or feedback? Email us at feedback@voguebusiness.com. More on this topic: Exclusive: Lessons from Levi’s data science bootcamp DAOs want to reshape fashion. Here’s what brands need to know What’s next for video shopping?

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