In the fantasy metaverse, fashion still craves realism

To become a member of Vogue Business and receive the Technology Edition newsletter, Click here.

A new app is helping people find their true style and identity in life in the metaverse, where fancy fashion has taken center stage as brands seek to understand how to connect with customers in virtual worlds.

Idoru, now in private beta, addresses the desire for “realism” through both fashion and personal identity, creating a more familiar and desirable format for the fashion community, which sometimes has, lamented the often rudimentary sight of metaverse design. It’s also a welcoming forum for people who may have found previous avatar creation tools limiting. Past research on avatars and identity has shown that, while most people want to be able to represent their real-life identities in their digital avatars, customization options are limited. Users have called for more different skin colors, hair styles, body sizes, and clothing options. Idoru aims to fulfill these requirements.

Idoru users customize an avatar, browse digital fashion options and create an outfit. The images are designed to be shared: users then drop their avatar into AR, choose an expression and body pose, and snap a photo. Idoru is free to use, as are the designer parts in the app. Continuous access is now open and the app is expected to be widely released in the fall. To begin with, users can share their avatar selfies on social media, with videos coming later this year. The company is also exploring partnerships with other virtual spaces.

The app makes fashion accessible that otherwise might not be, thanks to financial constraints or otherwise. At first, users will have access to pieces from past and current collections from designer James Flemons’ Phlemuns brand. “The most amazing part to me is that so many people are able to see themselves in my clothes and not have to question it,” says Flemons. “As a small independent brand, most of our presence exists online where people don’t have physical access to clothing.” Other brands will launch from the end of September, including New York designers Chanel Campbell’s Bed on Water and Raffaella Hanley’s Lou Dallas.

While many physical designers have translated their items into digital versions, these are rarely in a hyper-realistic context that mimics the physical world. This is partly because metaverse spaces are often an extension of gaming culture, and because the technology required is mostly not powerful enough to render complex real-time detail and movement. In Roblox, The Sandbox, and Zepeto, for example, items from brands like Ralph Lauren, Burberry, and Gucci tend to have a more stylized and simplistic look that is more characteristic of children’s video games. Similarly, at Metaverse Fashion Week, the design aesthetic had to be simplified to translate to Decentraland.