Everyone is crazy about the Metaverse: even fashion arrives in the virtual world
The Metaverse, according to Mark Zuckerberg, represents the future of humanity. A 3D universe identical to the real world. Facebook owner's acceleration towards virtual reality has pushed many companies to bet on this technology. Even fashion has sensed the deal and many brands are experimenting with the potential of the Metaverse.
For a few weeks, online and offline, there has been nothing but talk about the Metaverse . A craze that broke out following the speech given by Mark Zuckerberg during the annual conference in which the king of social networks reels off his company's results and projects. On that occasion, in fact, the founder of Facebook announced to the world the new name of his company: Meta , an abbreviation of Metaverso. A rebranding that hides a very specific vision of the future, all centered on virtual reality . But what is this Metaverse really?
The future is in the Metaverse
The ending, in reality, is not a neologism created by Zuckerberg but has a much longer history, probably known to lovers of science fiction literature. In fact, the first to coin it and talk about it was the writer Neal Stephenson in the novel Snow Crash . It is among those pages that the Metaverse showed itself for the first time in its form: a virtual space identical to the real world , which you enter through special tools and where you interact via avatars. In essence, a universe beyond the universe , beyond the real (from the Greek meta , meaning after ). And this is precisely what the visionary lords of technology imagine for the near future of humanity: the construction and growth of a new world, which lies within and alongside the one we know. A virtual world where everything works as in reality : you meet, share experiences, make purchases. All without leaving home.
A truly revolutionary concept, therefore, destined to create opposing factions. On the one hand, those who consider it a harbinger of a dangerous dystopia , of a world in which everyone will find themselves closed in their own enclosure, in the absence of real human contact. On the other, those who see enormous possibilities , both for development and profit. So much so that the race to grab a slice of the new three-dimensional world has already started: there are financial companies that are even spending millions of dollars to buy land in the Metaverse, even though today this parallel universe is still little more than a video game.
Even fashion arrives in the virtual world
Even fashion did not hesitate to try its hand at the excitement unleashed by the Metaverse . In fact, many brands have been experimenting with virtual initiatives for some months now, especially in partnership with the world of gaming . For example, there are those who have created 3D versions of their collections to dress the characters of some video games . This is the case of Balenciaga , which landed on the famous and discussed Fortnite , of Ralph Lauren , which instead chose the Roblox platform, or of Benetton , whose clothes are present on Animal Crossing . But there are also those who have gone further, creating their own video game, such as Louis Vuitton and Burberry . Even more daring is the experiment dared by Gucci, which again on Roblox launched the virtual version of the Dyonisus bag , available in limited quantities and for only 48 hours. An unexpected success, given that the price reached 4000 dollars. The projects of Adidas and Nike are also ambitious. The first has purchased land in the Metaverse of Tha Sandbox to create a real digital headquarters. The second, however, appointed a manager from the Metaverse, with the task of developing Nikeland , a sports citadel.
It is clear that the big names have sensed the business and are testing the waters. It is easy to hypothesize that they will soon stop playing and start getting serious, inaugurating real virtual stores that will make the very concept of e-commerce pale in comparison . A bit like H&M has already done, in collaboration with the digital services company Ceek, ahead of its time. Imagine being able to enter a 3D boutique simply by playing a video game or spending time on a social network, and being able to touch and try an infinite quantity of products, many more than any physical store can contain. This, according to many, is the future of the fashion sector . And it won't be long in coming.
