Fashion has conquered many industries on its quest to dominate mainstream culture, and now, gaming has fallen under its sartorial spell.
While the nerdy gamers of yesteryear were hardly the bastions of style, 21st-century gamers are immensely fashion conscious, leading some of the world’s fashion houses to take a foray into designing for games.
Read on to discover why fashion brands, including Louis Vuitton and Balenciaga, are clamouring to have their designs featured in the latest games.
The Gamification of Fashion
Of all the tech industries to have emerged since the late 20th century, gaming stands alone as being the most mainstream of all. The remote gaming market has grown exponentially in recent years, providing players with opportunities to play free online games across a spectrum of genres.
Although estimates vary, market researchers like Newzoo pinned global gaming revenues to be as high as $180.3 billion in 2021. Gaming is now larger than the music and film industries combined.
For today’s players, gaming isn’t just a hobby; it’s a lifestyle. Their digital avatars are carefully crafted to express all the facets of their identity, and that includes looking good, even if all they’re doing is trying to survive.
Gaming in Style
With gaming being such a lucrative industry, it’s no wonder that fashion brands are keen to capitalise on the increasing appetites of style-conscious gamers.
Louis Vuitton’s Nicolas Ghesquière has long been a sci-fi and gaming enthusiast. As far back as 2016, he was blurring the lines between fashion and gaming by casting Final Fantasy’s Lightning as the S/S 2016 campaign lead. Elements from games like Minecraft have even inspired his womenswear runway collections.
It was only a matter of time before LV would make its way into video games, and, in 2019, Ghesquière teamed up with Riot Games to craft an exclusive design for League of Legends character, Qiyana. The Empress of the Elements was suitably kitted out in a Louis Vuitton monogrammed outfit, right down to her Ohmlatl weapon.
Ghesquière followed this up by creating a one-off Trophy Travel Case awarded to the winners of the 2019 Summoner’s Cup – the LoL world championships. Cast in silver plate, brass and accented with 24ct gold, the case represented the designer and eSports collaboration.
In 2021, Balenciaga made its first steps into gaming with the release of its autumn/winter collection via the immersive video game Afterworld: The Age of Tomorrow. The Maison followed this up by collaborating with Epic Games to produce exclusive character outfits for its MOBA behemoth, Fortnite.
Four characters in the game can now be kitted out in head-to-toe Balenciaga skins, with ‘fits even including backpacks and those iconic Triple S trainers. Furthermore, gamers can also purchase Balenciaga tools to use in the game, such as the Hourglass-bag glider and Speed-sneaker pickaxe, by visiting the virtual Retail Row – the Fornite take on the company’s brick and mortar stores.
Of course, it’s not just the fashion powerhouses that are dipping their toes into gaming waters. More independent brands are crossing over into designing for the digital realm. The Polish streetwear brand, MISBHV, produced a range of virtual clothes for RockStar Games’ Grand Theft Auto V. The label’s digital tees and hoodies, which are worn in the game by DJ group Keinemusik, were “conceived real-world first” to ensure authenticity in the virtual one.
