Hot buttons: why fashion houses are getting into video games
In December 2015, the famous French fashion house Louis Vuitton made a surprise announcement regarding the advertising campaign for its upcoming spring-summer collection. The new line of apparel and accessories would be modeled on screen and in the pages of glossy magazines not by a famous actor or popstar but by a video game character: the pink-haired warrior Lightning from Final Fantasy. XIII. Nicolas Ghesquière, the brand's creative director, told reporters that he sees Lightning as "the perfect avatar for a global hero woman." The fictional character even did interviews to promote the partnership.
It wasn't the first time that a fashion brand had collaborated with a major video game. Previously, H&M, Moschino and Diesel created digital clothing for The Sims. Diesel had his own island in the ambitious PlayStation 3 metaverse precursor, Home. But the last two years have seen an explosion: Balenciaga and Ralph Lauren in Fortnite, Balmain in Need for Speed, Tommy Hilfiger and Gucci in Roblox, Marc Jacobs and Valentino in Animal Crossing, Lacoste and Burberry in Minecraft. Most collaborations now involve both digital and physical collections: when Lacoste partnered with Minecraft, the company produced an entire wardrobe of clothing and accessories; When Balmain teamed up with Need for Speed Unbound last November, it produced a themed limited edition of its B-IT slide shoes, while in-game runner Eleonore wears a dress from the Fall 2022 collection of home.
Why is this happening now? How have games become popular venues for revealing and marketing new fashion lines?
Part of it, of course, is a numbers game. Today, video games are played by 3 billion people worldwide, generating $200 billion in revenue by 2022. It's an absolutely vast entertainment industry with a diverse user base - and it's still growing. to grow. “Businesses want to be where consumers are. It's that simple,” says Federico San Martin, Minecraft Partnerships and Licensing Manager. "The gaming industry has grown really fast, it's overtaken Hollywood. Traditional marketing has evolved. Twenty years ago, TV advertising was everything, but I have two teenagers at home who don't watch TV. Your consumer is into video games right now.ImageBlockElement" class="dcr-173mewl">
It's also about how people play. Minecraft, Roblox, Animal Crossing and Fortnite have become digital meeting places, as much for chatting with friends as for playing a game. "The reality is that more and more people live in these worlds, our lives are i. ..
In December 2015, the famous French fashion house Louis Vuitton made a surprise announcement regarding the advertising campaign for its upcoming spring-summer collection. The new line of apparel and accessories would be modeled on screen and in the pages of glossy magazines not by a famous actor or popstar but by a video game character: the pink-haired warrior Lightning from Final Fantasy. XIII. Nicolas Ghesquière, the brand's creative director, told reporters that he sees Lightning as "the perfect avatar for a global hero woman." The fictional character even did interviews to promote the partnership.
It wasn't the first time that a fashion brand had collaborated with a major video game. Previously, H&M, Moschino and Diesel created digital clothing for The Sims. Diesel had his own island in the ambitious PlayStation 3 metaverse precursor, Home. But the last two years have seen an explosion: Balenciaga and Ralph Lauren in Fortnite, Balmain in Need for Speed, Tommy Hilfiger and Gucci in Roblox, Marc Jacobs and Valentino in Animal Crossing, Lacoste and Burberry in Minecraft. Most collaborations now involve both digital and physical collections: when Lacoste partnered with Minecraft, the company produced an entire wardrobe of clothing and accessories; When Balmain teamed up with Need for Speed Unbound last November, it produced a themed limited edition of its B-IT slide shoes, while in-game runner Eleonore wears a dress from the Fall 2022 collection of home.
Why is this happening now? How have games become popular venues for revealing and marketing new fashion lines?
Part of it, of course, is a numbers game. Today, video games are played by 3 billion people worldwide, generating $200 billion in revenue by 2022. It's an absolutely vast entertainment industry with a diverse user base - and it's still growing. to grow. “Businesses want to be where consumers are. It's that simple,” says Federico San Martin, Minecraft Partnerships and Licensing Manager. "The gaming industry has grown really fast, it's overtaken Hollywood. Traditional marketing has evolved. Twenty years ago, TV advertising was everything, but I have two teenagers at home who don't watch TV. Your consumer is into video games right now.ImageBlockElement" class="dcr-173mewl">
It's also about how people play. Minecraft, Roblox, Animal Crossing and Fortnite have become digital meeting places, as much for chatting with friends as for playing a game. "The reality is that more and more people live in these worlds, our lives are i. ..
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