FASHION WEEK IS NOT CANCELLED. I REPEAT, FASHION WEEK IS NOT CANCELLED.
Though many designers are feeling a bit under the weather without being able to promote or showcase their new collections on global stages, the fashion calendar has been physically ‘frozen’. However, there’s light at the end of the tunnel – Fashion Week is SAVED by the new lockdown video game craze: Animal Crossing.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, many designers and fashion show administrators had been escalating the process of adapting to this ‘new norm’. With virtual fashion shows via living rooms, VR showcases, video submissions for fashion award shows… the list goes on. In this new ‘era’, we must take advantage of the incredible and insane technology that is out there right now – and at this very moment, it’s Animal Crossing.
Designers such as Marc Jacobs, Valentino and Sandy Liang are one of the first high-end designers to trial Animal Crossing: New Horizons for their new collections. The real-time element of this game allows designers to “drop” their collections which they design to fit the Animal Crossing characters. Animal Crossing players are then able to download the outfits and ‘wear’ them in-game – all for free.
Valentino released its men’s and women’s SS20 and pre-fall 20/21 collections this month on Animal Crossing – is this the new way of fashion?
Viewing collections on a tiny screen on Animal Crossing will never be the same as the cinematic and out-of-body experiences we often feel in real life fashion shows, however, this new way of showcasing new collections is creative and intriguing. It is something we can all get behind.
