Get Ready For the First Ever Avatar-Based Fashion Show

This month will see avatar-based social platform IMVU break new ground with the live-streaming of its first-ever virtual fashion show.

The online show is a collaboration between IMVU creators and several up-and-coming designers, including Freak City, Collina Strada, Gypsy Sport, Mowalola, Mimi Wade, BruceGlen and My Mum Made It.

Digital designs will be available for purchase on IMVU after the show, with select pieces up for auction as NFTs on IMVU’s OpenSea marketplace. This means that your avatar will have exclusive access to a one-of-a-kind digital garment.

What is IMVU?

IMVU is one of the largest ever avatar social platforms, with a whopping 7 million monthly users. IMVU users can create “their own highly-stylised avatars, connecting with friends in immersive 3D chat rooms, shopping and creating new looks, and sharing their experiences.”

Based on IMVU stats, users are predominantly females age 18 – 24, with 40% of users hailing from the US and 60% primarily from the UK, France, Canada and Brazil.

While this may be the first time you have heard of IMVU, the platform was rated a top 10 favourite social app among Gen Z and millennials in 2020, and a top 3 grossing app in the App Store.

The platform thrives on its collaborative economy with a community of 50,000 creators who can develop and sell various fashion items. IMVU currently holds 50 million shop items from clothing to avatar features, animations, furniture, and rooms.

Though fashion, shopping and creating your very own hyper-stylised avatar is a key component of the platform, IMVU is all about social interaction at its core. Users on the platform can connect and interact with friends and users worldwide in interactive 3D chat rooms.

The pandemic resulted in a thirst for interaction in any form, and as a result, IMVU and its digital world (AKA metaverse) saw a reported 44% increase in numbers. IMVU Inc has since reformed under a new parent company, Together Lab, and further acceleration is expected with a recent $35 million round of investment in January 2021.

The IMVU fashion show comes at a time when we are starting to see fashion brands immerse themselves within the digital landscape. In the last few years, we have seen Moschino collaborate with the Sims, and Louis Vuitton collaborate with League of Legends, creating in-game skins as well as real-life capsule collections.

But with the advent of NFTs, it now begs the question of whether physical collections will even be necessary in the future.

It's safe to say luxury brands will be tuning in and taking notes of how to best traverse this burgeoning social network.

The virtual fashion show will be streamed on the IMVU’s YouTube channel on 27 and 28 May from 1 P.M. PST.

Have you heard? Luxury fashion brands are now in video games.