FASHION & GAMING AN EVOLVING RELATIONSHIP
Since the introduction of games like “GTA” (Grand Theft Auto) in the 1990s’, the gaming industry has shifted from a niche culture, with a specific audience, into the forefront of Popular Culture.
“In its most basic form, popular culture simply refers to widely shared, images, ideas, and objects - the culture of the people... It typically refers to a specific kind of people’s culture: that’s produced by the institutions of the mass media. This mass media can include books, television, news media, advertisements, films, music, clothing, games and much more” (Odell Korgen 284)
In this article, the evolving relationship between the gaming and fashion industry will be explored, to highlight the current and future trajectory of fashion in response to gaming culture and its evolving technology. I will be showcasing that Gaming as a growing Popular Culture, is changing the course of fashion. This influence will be displayed via the exploration of how the gaming industry has: shaped new audiences, enhanced fashion experiences and impacted industry innovations. In this, the gaming industry is becoming more prevalent in the way fashion culture is being created, marketed, and sold.
Setting the scene: The origins of the growing relationship between Fashion and Gaming:
To understand how the gaming industry is shaping the trajectory of fashion, it is crucial to acknowledge the origin of Fashion as an asset in gaming. By understanding how the relationship between the two industries first formed, the developing relationship and how fashion is changing consequently can be recognised more simply.
The origin of Fashion and gaming as assets of one another, dates to the release of GTA in November 1997. Before the release of GTA “Fashion in video games (had) long been neglected because it simply (didn’t) impact gameplay outcomes.” (Kearns, 2023). And therefore, characters were often seen to have one unchanging outfit throughout gameplay that had no real correlation or impact on gameplay. Fashion had no place in gaming, for they were separate worlds, with no real reason to intersect. “When Rockstar released GTA III, it set a standard for clothing that (amplified) the immersive nature of a video game by accurately reflecting its setting, time period and even the backstory of the character wearing it.” (Kearns, 2023) For the first time in gaming, a character’s clothing was a direct representation of the context of a character. GTA III, is set in Liberty City, a location loosely based off New York. And in this, all the fashion within the game is also a direct mirror of what the clothing climate looked like at the time. This is a technique GTA used in all its game releases.
“GTA: San Andreas was the first instalment where players could customise the protagonist by switching up his hairstyle, getting tattoos and buying clothing items ranging from streetwear to suits. Developers also integrated CJ’s personal style choices into his interactions with NPCs, where a good outfit would help him gain the respect of his fellow gang members and improve his relationship with his girlfriend.” (Kearns, 2023)
Thus, fashion became an interactive and immersive asset of gaming. Players could begin to experiment with their character’s clothing styles and choices to understand how fashion not only impacts the way you are socially respected in the real world but also the digital. The virtual world was imitating life as we know it. As stated by HypeBeast associate editor Kearns: “Rockstar was ahead of the curve, gradually laying the foundation for what’s become GTA’s omnipresent influence on streetwear, virtual clothing and the greater fashion world.” To refine this further, GTA, began spoofing popular luxury streetwear brands in the game, for example, a brand named “BIGNESS” pays homage to streetwear brand Supreme with a red box logo. With the game featuring spoofs of brands, this allowed fans to recognise such streetwear labels and go and buy it for themselves. As fashion had become an asset in gaming, gaming was becoming an asset in fashion. Nearly a decade on from the last instalment of GTA, GTA V, the game’s aesthetic has been so impactful to popular culture that it has been translated into the creation of tangible products. GTA has brought real-life fashion labels to video games, with the introduction of Polish Streetwear brand MISBHV to the virtual world of gaming. Characters wearing neon yellow and pink tie-dye shirts with “MISBHV” printed across them. (Stanton, 2021) This, is recognised as one of the first times that a real-life fashion brand was digitalised in the world of virtual reality and gaming, setting a precedent for brands and gaming companies to continue.
Understanding how the relationship between fashion and gaming culture began, this article aims to look at the intersection of fashion and gaming to highlight how gaming culture is changing the trajectory of fashion.
How the gaming industry is changing the trajectory of fashion via brand collaborations and changing behaviour through virtual in game fashion experiences:
The introduction of games such as GTA, established a relationship between the digital world and fashion industry. Virtual clothing allowed players to customise their characters to change gameplay narrative, spoof fashion brands brought the attention of streetwear fashion to new untapped audiences and the gaming industry distinguished itself as an influence of fashion. This relationship is changing the trajectory of fashion culture and can be recognised by the way in which gaming is influencing the development and creation of new trends. This is best understood via the introduction of gaming and fashion brand collaborations.
Collaborations between gaming and fashion companies are recharacterizing fashion genres with the creation and development of new trends. Gaming companies are partnering with renowned fashion brands to create limited edition collections. These are inspired by popular video games and their characters. Such collaborations blend both elements of gaming culture and high fashion aesthetics, creating a new fashion subculture. The success of such collections, unites two separate audiences, creating influence for both industries.
To understand further why fashion brands are choosing the gaming industry for their collaborations, it is crucial to understand how profitable the gaming industry is in comparison to other industries that shape popular culture. For example, in 2021, “the global film industry was worth $44 billion, in comparison the global gaming industry was worth $317 billion. The estimated revenue of console games comes to $37 billion, whereas the mobile gaming market generated an estimate of over $77 billion in 2020.” (Sandhu, 2021) In essence, the gaming industry is an economic goldmine for the fashion industry, and brands recognise this. Hence, fashion brands are capitalising on the gaming industry to unlock new audiences.
An example is the collaboration between LV (Louis Vuitton) and League of Legends, in December 2019. League of Legends is an online multiplayer video game, which LV partnered with to release a4capsule collection both physically and digitally. According to the League of Legends: Player Count and Statistics 2024, the game “retains a consistent figure of between 140-160 million active monthly users, which is among the biggest player bases in online gaming.” (Turbosmurfs, 2024) The popularity of League of Legends, from its first release in 2009, therefore is cemented in popular culture.
LV recognised the influence that League of Legends could have for the brand, allowing it to expand its audience. “As well as in-game items, Louis Vuitton “designed the trophy case for League of Legends’ 2019 Summoner’s Cup... According to WWD, the championship final drew in 99.8 million unique viewers.” This collaboration gave LV an unprecedented reach for new audiences, with the opportunity to capture the attention of millions of viewers for the entire stream.
Although just one example, this collaboration is not the only union between fashion and gaming. These collaborations continue to occur, between brands such as Moschino and Sims; Animal Crossing and Valentino, as well as Gucci and Roblox. Evidently, the fashion industry is aware of the opportunities for new audiences available in gaming, shaping the trajectory of the industry. The future of fashion, consequently, is being redirected to unlock a new territory and means of communication.
Building on the fact that brand collaborations between the fashion and gaming industry are shaping the trajectory of fashion future; the involvement of gaming in popular culture, is reframing the economic market, creating new marketing opportunities in fashion. Digital industries are growing and with-it worldwide retail e-commerce sales. The fashion industry therefore has a responsibility to move into digital realms, enhancing their marketing quality to meet changing demands of current and new audiences.
In 2017, retail e-commerce sales worldwide amounted to $2.3 trillion, in 2023, e-commerce sales reached an estimated 5.8 trillion in US dollars. From this we can infer that, the innovation of technology is changing consumer spending habits. In response, the fashion industry is turning to the gaming industry. Aware as an industry, fashion needs to digitally enhance its marketing approaches, brands are beginning to host in game fashion experiences and events.
Sportswear brand, Nike, have been expanding their presence in digital space and game, Roblox, to untap new audiences and keep their existing audience engaged. Nike built its own Metaverse “Nikeland” in 2021, this “enabled customers to interact with the brand in a deeper, and more personal way, than ever before. By working with Roblox, Nike has created a world of innovation and excitement for its customers.” (Rex, 2022)
The success of this technique is accredited to multiple reasons. It is changing the way in which Nike sells its products online, via a more immersive experience where consumers can create their own digital identity and interact with other customers. It also promotes brand inclusivity, as a fashion experience online, anyone can access it. The game features the Nikeland showroom, where players can try on virtual products with their avatars. They can also “buy NFTs, and even take part in mini- games...Perhaps the most compelling part of Nikeland is its digital showroom, where users can buy garments and even create their own Nike-branded accessories from scratch” (Carter, 2023) The success of Nikeland, can be attributed to evidence, that it has had 36 million participants, ongoing, since its creation in December 2021.
To conclude, the gaming industry is creating new marketing opportunities in fashion, brands who take advantage of such opportunities are having huge success. Gaming platforms are offering brands a new route to untap new audiences and engage pre-existing ones.
How the gaming industry is shaping the current and future trajectory of fashion through the development of new and evolving technologies:
I want to expand on the idea that the gaming industry is shaping consumer behaviour through virtual in game fashion experiences. This is via the development of new and evolving technologies. My second case study aims to evaluate the nature in which the fashion industry is evolving via its response to the advancement of emerging technologies, introduced and popularised into culture by the gaming industry.
Before discussing technology that the gaming industry has introduced into culture, (changing the trajectory of fashion as we know it) it is worth understanding how technology might cause changes in culture and therefore recharacterize such an industry. This is to highlight the extent to which the gaming industry is significantly reframing fashion culture. The work of Patricia A. Cunningham and Susan Voso Lab in Dress and Popular Culture, discusses the ideology behind how changes in pop culture might reframe fashion. Cunningham and Voso Lab argue that: “Mass fashion reflects the many and complex cultural changes occurring in society including the influences of technology, government and mass communication”. From this, we can interpret that fashion, on a mass, evolves in response to changes in culture and developments in technology. The role of dress can be understood as something that responds to human needs and as technology changes so does consumer need. Therefore, we can infer that with the introduction of new technology, fashion has a cultural responsibility to evolve and adapt, to reflect societal advancements in culture. This links back to the aforementioned growth in e- commerce sales, defined by a projection from $2.3 trillion to $5.8 trillion from 2017 to 2023. As the direction of consumer expenditure changes, fashion as an industry is required to look at where culture is headed and what is popularised, adopting such technology to survive.
The gaming industry has introduced new technologies such as “VR” (Virtual Reality) and “AR” (Augmented Reality) into popular culture, shaping the trajectory of fashion. “Virtual reality is a very powerful and compelling computer application by which humans can interface and interact with computer-generated environments in a way that mimics real life and engages all the senses.” (Burdea and Coiffet, 2017). More simply, VR technology is a software that can create digital environments, experiences, and interactions. Participants wear a headset, which transports them into a virtual three- dimensional, interactive world. This technology aims to engage its users by creating experiences that7utilise multiple senses. Instead of players interacting with only a tv screen or monitor via a controller, VR gives a 360 view of their environment through sight, sound, touch, and movement. Likewise, AR technology “is defined as a combination of ‘real and computer-generated digital information into the user’s view of the physical world in such a way they appear in one environment’”. (Tom and Jung, 2019).
VR and AR technology was popularised into mainstream culture by the gaming industry in the late 2010s, when “...companies such as Oculus and HTC Vive introduced high quality VR headsets that leveraged powerful graphics and motion tracking technology.” (Cross, 2023). These headsets revolutionised gaming into a whole new realm of immersion. Players could enter virtual worlds, and be physically present in them, blending the digital and physical worlds on a new level. An April 2023 study conducted between 1,000 luxury fashion consumers by Vogue Business in collaboration with Snap Inc “revealed that 72% of luxury fashion consumers in the UK say it’s important that brands provide AR solutions as part of their shopping experiences.” This highlights how, the popularity of such gaming technology is translating into other industries and creating new consumer demands. (Nast, 2023) Hence, fashion brands have a responsibility to recognise the capabilities of VR to transcend the realm of gaming and shift into new industries, such as its own changing the trajectory of fashion future.
VR and AR technology is evidently evolving the trajectory of fashion, as brands are actively adopting such technology in the way they communicate and market to their consumers. The best example of this is the use of AR technology allowing consumers the capability to try on clothing digitally. Prada released a hands-free try-on using a tool that detects hands gestures “People can set down their phone, step away, and see how various Prada purses would look on them by using a “swiping” hand gesture to change the colours.” (Nast, 20)
Figure four, highlights this, depicting a woman stood away from her phone (hands free), using a Prada AR filter on Snapchat, allowing her to test Prada handbags in a selection of colours. This figure displays the capabilities of AR and VR technology to advance the trajectory of the fashion industry. The ability to try on clothing and accessories via your phone transforms the online shopping experience. Consumers are no longer required to travel to stores to try on what they want to purchase and can assure themselves that the garment is the correct fit without leaving their homes. This changes the trajectory of fashion, as it is both a more inclusive and sustainable way of online shopping. Fashion brands are adopting gaming technology to change the course of online retail, meeting new consumer needs. AR technology builds a more loyal relationship between consumers and brands, as their online experience shopping with brands is more immersive and reliable, they have a better picture of what they are purchasing without physically seeing it.
In this, it can be understood that the trajectory of the fashion industry is changing in response to the development of new and evolving technologies. The fashion industry is moving into the realm of digital fashion, adopting new technologies to communicate to its consumers and connect with them. VR and AR technology allows brands to bring more immersive online retail experiences to their consumers and create a personal shopping narrative to online servers. In this, such technology creates a more inclusive fashion future.
In summary, it is clear to see that the relationship between the fashion and gaming industry is evolving, to change the current and future trajectory of the fashion. As a lucrative industry, gaming offers fashion the ability to untap new audiences to profit from. This is best achieved through the creation of both digital and physical collaborative collections. Additionally, the gaming industry is offering fresh ways to communicate fashion through digital experiences, allowing brand the opportunity to build online metaverses and event spaces for consumers to interact. This allows the trajectory of fashion to become more inclusive and diverse, as people worldwide can all come together in one online space to share their love for fashion. Finally, the gaming industry offers innovative ways to engage consumers through new technology, such as VR and AR to enhance retail experiences to fashion consumers
