For Gucci, Balenciaga and other, it now seems inevitable to penetrate the world of gaming. That says a lot about how luxury is consumed and understood today.
Gaming is now a huge market and no longer a niche phenomenon. The market for the gaming sector is currently estimated at around 160 billion US dollars.
The most important regions for this are in Southeast Asia, China is the largest and therefore most important market.
Binding fans to a brand
It is undisputed that among these almost three billion gaming fans there are also fashion fans or at least could be potential fashion fans. In the meantime, it seems almost no longer a question of whether a luxury brand will enter the gaming field, but when and how.
The most recent example is currently Balenciaga, which is widely regarded as one of the most culturally influential fashion houses in the world. On December 6, 2020, Balenciaga’s own video game “Afterworld. The game, which is intended to work in all web browsers and require no app or console.
The accompanying statement said that you could enter a “virtual utopia” with the game. If you take a look at Balenciaga’s latest collections, it couldn’t be more fitting. After all, creative director Demna Gvasalia regularly played with dystopias and utopias, with gloomy yet hopeful future scenarios in his aesthetics and their catwalk productions.
So for Balenciaga, stepping into the gaming world is inspired by a certain narrative. Aesthetics is one thing. Binding fans to the brand through a video game is another.
Luxury that you have to earn
Many players always identify to some extent with a game, with the avatar that they create themselves in many games. Some luxury brands have gone further than Balenciaga.
The most striking collaboration is probably that between Louis Vuitton and “League of Legends” from 2019. This included both a capsule collection with looks inspired by the game and so-called “skins” that could be applied in the game itself. Fans of LOL Deputy can enjoy the fashion in the LoL skins.
Affordable but virtual
All of this leads to identification with a brand, but game developers also benefit when their users feel like they can make their characters even more individual. But the connection between gaming and fashion doesn’t end there. There are now even fashion video games that are based on players being able to put together a luxury look.