A Fashion and Gaming Veteran Looks To Its Next Phase

When the style styling sport Drest debuted in 2019, video video games had been nonetheless international territory to many trend manufacturers. The few labels that had begun exploring the house, similar to Louis Vuitton, Burberry and Nike, had been exceptions relatively than the rule.

That’s modified.

“Now I feel everyone actually understands that there’s an viewers who they’re solely actually going to attach [with] by means of these sorts of metaverse, gamified areas,” stated Lucy Yeomans, who previous to co-founding Drest was world content material director at Internet-a-Porter and editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar UK.

Drest is by this level one of many veterans on the intersection of trend and gaming, which lately has seen an inflow of manufacturers from Balenciaga to Alo Yoga. Within the sport, customers full challenges like styling a photoshoot round a Versace miniskirt or creating an editorial moodboard to attain factors and unlock rewards. You choose the mannequin, select hair and make-up, resolve on the backdrop location and choose equipment and clothes, which embrace items from quite a few manufacturers.

Whereas Yeomans admits the corporate has confronted some challenges alongside the best way — particularly with its know-how platform — it’s nonetheless marching forward. On Wednesday it introduced £15 million ($19.1 million) in new funding from the household workplace of co-founder and entrepreneur Graham Edwards.

It’s a sum that in all probability would have certified as substantial when Drest launched however right now appears extra modest in comparison with the gaming investments manufacturers are making.

The funds will go in the direction of the eventual launch of an expanded model Yeomans calls “Drest 2.0.” The replace will add new social options, the power to personalise your avatar and extra narrative choices, similar to giving customers a style of the lavish journeys manufacturers present VIP prospects, influencers and editors. Yeomans received that final concept from her common conversations with manufacturers, who she stated more and more have groups targeted on these types of occasions however for apparent causes can’t scale them to the plenty. The corporate additionally plans to lastly introduce an Android model so it isn’t simply obtainable on Apple gadgets.

Subsequent to a sport like Fortnite, which has 500 million registered accounts, Drest stays tiny. The corporate declined to say precisely what number of customers it has however stated since launch it’s seen 250 p.c year-on-year development in customers and has labored with greater than 260 manufacturers, together with Prada, Gucci, Fendi and Valentino. Manufacturers will accomplice with the corporate to create challenges that may assist to advertise a brand new product or unfold the phrase a few new artistic director.

As a sport, Drest takes a a lot totally different strategy than most of the different mashups between trend and gaming. These have sometimes concerned manufacturers going into established video games like Fortnite or Roblox and establishing elaborate branded experiences, like Gucci’s house in Roblox or Nike’s immersive new Air Max-themed world in Fortnite, the place customers run round amassing trinkets or performing different duties. The gameplay has little to do with trend, however Drest gamifies the act of placing a glance collectively.

Whereas the sport is free to play, customers will pay for entry to extra gadgets they’re in a position to make use of of their photoshoots. You additionally acquire extra choices as you retain styling and acquire expertise. At degree two, you get entry to a desert setting and a aspect lob coiffure. At degree 4, a topiary backyard and low aspect pony. Advancing within the sport appears to be largely a matter of finishing challenges, that are completely about placing collectively appears the consumer enjoys relatively than ability manoeuvring a personality by means of obstacles. Over time, the sport has additionally launched extra particular options, like avatars of supermodels together with Kate Moss and Natalia Vodianova.

Yeomans stated gamers can turn into engrossed within the technique of styling appears and may spend 20 minutes interacting with a purse that’s on the centre of a problem as they assemble appears round it, which is why she argues it’s a deeper type of engagement than scrolling previous a product in an Instagram feed.

The concept for Drest got here to Yeomans as she noticed her nephews enjoying video games and received invited herself on Fb to play FarmVille. Gaming supplied a chance to let extra individuals, particularly youthful shoppers, really feel like they had been taking part in trend’s cloistered trade.

“They appear like two such totally different worlds,” Yeomans stated of trend and video video games. “However all I may see was the similarities, like concentrate on nice storytelling, narrative development, slightly little bit of competitors [and] creativity.”

She was initially shocked by how open manufacturers had been to the thought of a trend sport, although it was usually troublesome discovering the suitable individual to talk to. No person was in control of gaming actions and it was usually the chief advertising and marketing officer she needed to persuade. Now extra firms have individuals or groups dedicated to gaming and digital ventures.

Trend and gaming solely look set to develop nearer as firms like LVMH, Nike, Gucci and extra set up new partnerships with gaming firms. Yeomans stated one benefit she’s had is her trend background, which allowed her to speak with manufacturers and perceive how they wish to be represented on-line. The corporate has been working to draw specialists who may realise its imaginative and prescient on the technical aspect.

“There’s a myriad of challenges, however I feel one of many items is simply the fusion of the 2 cultures,” Yeomans stated. “We actually really feel now that now we have prime expertise from the gaming trade, prime expertise from the tech trade and now now we have all of the items within the puzzle to essentially take us to this subsequent degree.”