Metaverse Fashion Week to return in March: what to expect

Metaverse Fashion Week (MVFW) is set to make its return, the event’s organiser and host platform Decentraland has said.

The metaverse-based fashion event will be held from March 28 to 31, 2023, as a virtual conclusion to the spring/summer fashion season.

For this year, virtual social world Decentraland and non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace UNXD have collaborated with the Spatial and Over metaverses to expand the event into new platforms.

The overarching theme of MVFW23 is ‘Future Heritage’, which will centre around connecting the next generation of creators and traditional fashion designers in an attempt to bridge the different metaverse worlds.

Speaking on the upcoming show, Shashi Menon, co-founder and CEO of UNXD, said in a release: “MVFW is a tentpole moment for digital fashion where both brands and consumers can experience the future of fashion.

“MVFW is a direct extension of UNXD’s mission to bridge luxury between the real world and the metaverse. After our successful first season with Decentraland, we’re thrilled to be expanding the MVFW platform together to encompass additional metaverses.”

What to expect

By adding two new metaverse platforms to the mix, Decentraland said it is looking to encourage digital fashion creators to consider the possibilities of multiple worlds that a ‘wearable’ can be brought to.

To build on this, the company is assembling an advisory board of curators, from the likes of the Institute of Digital Fashion (iODF) and The Fabricant, to select designers to participate. Those selected will contribute to a new digital plaza to showcase fashion and activations.

Miami Fashion Week will be the first recognised fashion week to take part, with runway shows and special activations to be held at the organisation’s own L’Atelier venue, located in Decentraland’s The Luxury Fashion District.

Tech firms Threedium and Cash Labs, as well as decentralised commerce company Boson, will also be returning for this season, each bringing a variety of in-game experiences, such as a luxury mall with commerce infrastructure, phygital product sales and augmented reality (AR) activations.

New features aimed to drive digital luxury

Like its previous edition, MVFW will be putting an emphasis on luxury for the event, returning to its Luxury Fashion District where a number of brands are set to debut digital collections on runways and in stores.

While the full line up will be announced in early January, the platform said it had set about making it easier for brands to participate in the metaverse through new self-service tools to create wearables. Additionally, Decentraland also introduced the ability to ‘rent’ land for specific periods of time.

Luxury fashion houses will be displayed in various environments throughout the district, while emerging designers will also be added to the schedule via MVFW Neo, a new division celebrating next generation digital creators that have been selected by Decentraland.

As part of MVFW, the first official supermodel for the event, Tangpoko, will be unveiled.