Digital fashion: just a booming phenomenon or a future trend?

Key takeaways

• The fashion industry is embracing digital technologies like NFTs and virtual reality, with the digital fashion market projected to reach $50 billion by 2030.
• Digital clothing offers sustainability, limitless creativity, and cost-effectiveness but faces the challenge of connecting with the physical world.
• Solutions include digital fashion shows and IoT traceability, transforming how we shop and reshaping the fashion industry’s future.

The metaverse, non-fungible tokens, blockchain, and virtual reality are just a few of the buzzwords we encounter daily. Amidst all the buzz, the actual significance and potential of these digital technologies often appear unclear, especially within the fashion industry. It’s high time we bring these fragmented ideas together and gain a comprehensive understanding of the digital fashion phenomenon.

Digital fashion defined

Digital fashion is a rapidly evolving concept that merges technology and fashion, offering endless possibilities for creativity and self-expression. It encompasses the creation and ownership of virtual garments, accessories, and even entire digital identities that can be showcased in virtual worlds or on social media platforms.^[1]

As the fashion industry explores the potential of these technologies, it opens up new avenues for designers, consumers, and brands to engage with fashion in innovative ways. Understanding the true potential of digital fashion can revolutionize the way we perceive and interact with clothing. In fact, by 2030, Morgan Stanley estimates that the digital fashion market alone could be worth $50 billion.^[2]

The many benefits and the main burden of digital fashion

Digital fashion’s unique approach benefits the fashion business in many ways. It eliminates fabric and physical production procedures, minimizing waste and environmental effects, making it a major sustainability advantage.

It’s not just the environment that reaps rewards from this trend. This digital landscape grants designers unparalleled creative freedom, liberating them from the constraints of traditional materials and unleashing their creative imaginations. Digital fashion eliminates the need for physical inventory, allowing for boundless design possibilities. This encourages us to venture into uncharted territories, while also curbing overproduction and excess inventory.

Despite the multitude of benefits, it is evident that this emerging fashion realm lacks one crucial aspect: a connection to the real world. How can digital fashion become an attractive choice for customers and brands if it doesn’t influence the more conventional aspects of the industry?

2+1 strategies to connect digital fashion to the real world

In reality, it’s not entirely accurate to claim that digital fashion has no real-world applications. Thanks to the digital revolution, brands worldwide employ two main strategies to enhance the traditional experience.

In fact, the way the fashion industry showcases its collections to the public has changed dramatically with the advent of digital fashion shows. They have become a fascinating blend of art and technology, providing designers with a creative canvas on which to express their imagination. Digital fashion shows are available to a worldwide audience due to their ability to transcend geographical barriers, in contrast to traditional runway events. These virtual experiences come in a variety of formats that immerse fashion fans in the action.^[3]

Secondly, the retail and industrial industries have greatly benefited from the Internet of Things (IoT), which has enhanced inventory management, product availability, and control. Manufacturers incorporate RFID tags for data visibility and product tracking. RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is a digital automatic identification technology that allows the unique detection of objects, both static and moving, using electromagnetic fields. Consequently, customers are able to follow garments and fabrics all along the supply chain, thanks to other technologies such as blockchain systems and NFC.^[4]

Next article’s sneak peek

If these two strategies are not enough for you to deepen your knowledge about digital fashion, in the following article, we will discover the last strategy to match virtual reality with a tangible everyday shopping experience. A little clue: you’ll be the protagonist!

References:

^[1] “What Is Digital Fashion, And Why Is It Important?” Available at: https://www.kiplinger.com/investing/cryptocurrency/604900/what-is-digital-fashion

^[2] “Metaverse: a $50 bln revenue opportunity for luxury”. Available at: https://www.reuters.com/technology/metaverse-50-bln-revenue-opportunity-luxury-ms-2021-11-16/

^[3] “Digital fashion Weeks and Virtual Shows”. Available at: https://www.vogue.com/article/digital-fashion-weeks-2020

^[4] “Rise of digital fashion and metaverse: influence on sustainability”. Available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s44265-023-00016-z

Author: Giuseppe Scandariato