Is Digital Fashion The Future? Everything You Need To Know

In the past couple of years, there has been a growing interest in digital fashion among fashion brands, designers, and consumers. 

This technological advancement refers to fashion for the digital space, where a range of different clothing designs and garments are made available in virtual form. This means customers can browse items online, try them in-store, and purchase them from the comfort of their own home. 

Here at Prestige, we’ll be taking a closer look at what exactly digital fashion is, when it was developed and the future of digital fashion within this day and age. 

Find out more within our post!

What Is Digital Fashion? 

Digital fashion is shaping the future of the industry industry, it refers to clothing designs that exist in digital environments whether it’s social media platforms, video games or virtual reality environments.

Garments are made entirely using pixels rather than textiles, using computer-generated imagery. 

The rise of digital fashion means that consumers can experiment with different clothing pieces freely without the physical production, showcasing their virtual wardrobes on social media and in virtual worlds. 

Digital fashion is a rapidly growing industry that offers a variety of new and exciting possibilities for designers and consumers alike.

Several major fashion brands like Gucci, Para and Balenciaga have begun creating and selling digital clothing and accessories for use in virtual and augmented reality environments.

Much like designing your avatars on video games such as The Sims where you can change its clothes, style, and overall look to fit your preference, digital clothes are designed using computer technologies and 3D design software for online avatars or edited onto your body. 

For instance, you can shop on DressX, the first multi brand retailer of digital fashion clothing, where you can search for what you want, click to buy, then attach a photo to have the piece tailored to.

It takes a few days for the images to come through and there you have it, you can post straight onto social media sites like Instagram.

Digital fashion is also seen on many different online fashion retail websites, with virtual fitting rooms becoming the norm, allowing shoppers to try on items in real-time without touching them. 

Where Did It Come From? 

To look back at the history of this cutting-edge field, it is a concept which has its roots in video game culture and dates back to the late 1990s and early 2000s. 

The role of fashion in video games has always allowed people to express themselves in the digital realm.

Whether it’s purchasing ‘skins’ for video games such as Fortnite, or downloading designer clothing for avatars on Animal Crossing.

Dating back even earlier, you could dress up celebrities and style yourself with the latest trends using digital fashion on Stardoll (only OGs will remember). 

Video games have become a significant influence on the development of digital fashion and as a result of this, many fashion brands have started to create virtual clothing lines specifically for gaming platforms. 

For example, Gucci launched a limited collection of digital-only items for Roblox in 2021. 

As technology continued to advance, so did the fashion industry and the further emergence of digital fashion, with the rise of virtual reality, augmented reality, and 3D printing over the last decade.

Then in 2018, a Scandinavian retailer, Carlings, introduced the world’s first digital-only clothing collection titled “Neo-Ex,”.

The creation of virtual clothing is also due to the rise of fashion and beauty influencer culture.

Influencers inspire their followers to dress the way they dress, buy the pieces they bought, wear the products they wear and so forth.

Nowadays, if social media influencers need another post for their online profiles, there is no need to buy or be ‘gifted’ a physical clothing piece anymore. Instead, they can use digital fashion to stay on top of trends. 

In the past couple of years since then, digital fashion has become more popular due to the coronavirus pandemic.

During COVID-19, more and more people were using digital only items for content creation due to social distancing and lockdown restrictions, which saw the new industry grow further. 

The Future Of Digital Fashion 

Not only is this technological innovation a real step forward for the fashion industry due to designs only existing in the digital realm, it also offers a solution to many issues facing the industry in modern times. 

In the past couple of years, the fashion industry has come under fire for the huge environmental impacts it has had on the world around us, with sustainability being the biggest issue. 

This is due to the rise of fast fashion, where clothing is rapidly produced at cheap prices for a quick turnover to keep up with trends.

To put things into perspective, fast fashion makes up 10% of humanity’s carbon emissions, which is undoubtedly having huge environmental impacts. 

In terms of influencer culture, this form of fashion enables people to decrease their carbon footprints whilst still being self-expressive and staying on board with fashion trends. 

It’s an innovative solution which is revolutionising the industry as we know it as a sustainable alternative to traditional fashion, due to the fact there is no production and shipping of physical garments. 

Despite being in its early stages, digital fashion is already revolutionising the fashion industry by providing new ways to create, showcase, and consume fashion designs. 

Whilst digital fashion isn’t likely to replace real-life clothing, this next frontier in fashion is only set to become bigger as more technological advancements are created. 

We’ve already begun to say goodbye to a variety of print publications, more and more fashion stores have moved primarily online, and some fashion shows are being held virtually.

It’s safe to say the way fashion is currently evolving is wild, and who knows how else the industry will continue to change in the years to come – watch this space! 

What are your views on digital fashion? Would you buy digital-only clothing? Let us know @prestigestudentliving.

World Health Day is coming up soon, read our post on 14 Small Changes To Become More Eco-friendly At Uni.