decrypt.co
Buzzy Gen-Z fashion favorite Diesel is launching an exclusive collection on the Meta Avatars Store in collaboration with digital fashion house, DressX.
The denim-centric Italian brand helmed by creative director Glenn Martens joins the store’s current luxury lineup, which includes the likes of Valentino, Balenciaga, Prada, and Thom Browne.
The collection features 10 emblematic Diesel looks that mirror the brand’s physical in-store offering. As such, buyers will be able to outfit their avatars in the brand’s signature denim jackets, jeans, and sneakers while sporting their looks on Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, and Quest VR. The first batch of five looks drops today, September 14, with a second set to follow later this year.
"This collaboration with DressX represents an exciting chapter for Diesel and remarks its commitment to engaging technology with fashion,” said Stefano Rosso, Board Member of Diesel parent OTB Group and CEO of OTB’s metaverse division BVX.
That Diesel is the first OTB Group brand to enter the store makes sense, given the brand’s previous moves around the metaverse as well as its NFT projects.
“Diesel was the first of our brands to have a presence in the virtual space,” Rosso told Decrypt. “We started with several NFT projects last year, and it’s very much in line with the brand’s DNA.”
Indeed, the news follows Diesel’s latest NFT drop on Tuesday with NFT music marketplace Public Pressure. It featured 300 digital collectibles minted across Polkadot and Polygon, and each NFT came with access to the brand’s upcoming runway show at Milan Fashion Week.
“We believe that the virtual space will be the future of fashion, for many reasons,” Rosso said. “It allows brands to expand the boundaries of their creativity, it’s a new way to interact with younger generations, and is by definition more sustainable than making real-life clothing”
Rosso added that Diesel’s “aim for the future [is] to develop exclusive items just for our virtual presence.” But he also emphasized the importance of a 360-degree approach, where both the brand’s physical and digital outputs are aligned—hence the choice of looks belonging to Martens’ latest collection currently in-store.
Rosso is also bullish about augmented reality (AR) as a vector for digital fashion.
“I believe that AR will really change the game,” he said. “The arrival of revolutionizing visors could really allow people to see virtual clothing on people walking on the street in the future.”
Right now, he says, digital fashion “is a great tool to experiment brand presence in new creative ways"—but going forward, “it could be a future revenue stream, once the technology and its adoption reach mass levels.”
DressX, which raised a $15 million Series A round in March, already has its own branded collection on sale in the Meta Avatars Store as of last year, along with its collaborations with real-world brands.
“We are committed to bringing a world-class experience to the digitally native customers developing avatar-commerce,” DressX founders Daria Shapovalova and Natalia Modenova said in a statement. “Together, we are bridging the gap between physical and digital fashion, offering fashion enthusiasts an immersive and innovative experience."