The Emperor Has No (Physical) Clothes. Only Digital…

business, fashion, humor, lessons learned, technology 2 Minutes

OK. Add one more item to my growing list of possible trends that I just don’t get.

Several fashion companies are creating digital outfits that people can “try on” by uploading images of themselves wearing the digital clothing item. Once they make the purchase of the digital clothing item, they can share the photo online.

It seems as if Instagram is the preferred platform for such sharing.

Here’s one example, of Daria Shapovalova, co-founder of DressX, wearing a Paskal Digital Dress ‘at’ Burning Man:

That is not a real dress…

Here is another one:

That virtual outfit sold for $1,050.

Here is a short video that explains how the process works at one company, DressX, that sells such outfits.

I like the vision of DressX:

We strongly believe that the amount of clothing produced today is way greater than humanity needs. We share the beauty and excitement that physical fashion creates, but we believe that there are ways to produce less, to produce more sustainably, and not to produce at all. At a current stage of DressX development, we aim to show that some clothes can exist only in their digital versions. Don’t shop less, shop digital fashion.

I like the sustainability angle of such clothing since no raw materials are really being used.

Here is an overview of the process of buying clothing at DressX:

At first glance DressX resembles a regular online marketplace, which currently includes more than 800 items and is expanding rapidly. Each product contains a product image, info about the designers, and even a description of digital material. There are three things that are fundamentally different from a regular marketplace though.

1. Unlike a physical garment, you can not “reuse” or “re-wear” the item you purchase. What you actually buy is the digital dressing of your submitted photo. It is not a filter you can later re-apply to your other pictures just yet. However, if you want to wear your digital garment again, DressX provides a 50% discount on any repeated purchase, so there is no need to pay the full price for the same garment again.

2. Digital clothing is “dressed” on top of your actual clothing. So, while DressX can add to or layer on top of what you are wearing, it cannot remove any part of the original clothes.

3. You have to do some prep work before buying a digital garment. Your photo needs to align with the requirements listed in the How to wear section on the DressX website. Fitting clothing, good light, no strong shadows, simple background are some of the tips to get the best results with digital fashion.

Here is the slogan at The Fabricant, another company that designs virtual fashion:

We waste nothing but data and exploit nothing but our imagination. Operating at the intersection of fashion and technology fabricating digital couture and fashion experiences.

It will be interesting to see where such a trend goes; if such an outfit could somehow be worn during a Zoom meeting, that could be useful.

Of course, I would hope such outfits come with a warning:

Do not go outside wearing just your virtual outfit…

Other sources:

Yahoo News

Forbes

*image from monicama

Published by Jim Borden

A 60-something guy trying to figure out the world, and his place in it. Happily married for 40-plus years, three wonderful sons. Accounting teacher, fitness enthusiast, blogger, reader.

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36 thoughts on “The Emperor Has No (Physical) Clothes. Only Digital…”

  6. not really the way i choose to burn my money, but an interesting product, that some will actually spend money on. i did buy a pet rock after all, but i didn’t choose to pose with it, and it was $3.

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  7. And I thought the fashion industry couldn’t get more stupid or pointless! By the way, I think we might be sharing some joint psychic powers – you’ll see what I mean on Tuesday 😉

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  8. As the anonymity of the internet allows people to be whomever they say they are, this seems like the logical next step in creating the digital illusion of a real life. We should create an app that allows you to take a photo of yourself sitting at a dining table, and we complete the image with a digital rendering of spectacular fare from renown chefs sitting in front of you and the fancy decor of a high-end restaurant as a background. You could be in a fake restaurant wearing fake clothes and eating fake food. Nothing says “this is the real me” better than that!

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  9. Damn, this will put a stop to all those good times, peeking into dressing rooms.

    This reminds me of the virtual casino chips you can buy online, so you can gamble online to win more virtual casino chips. Seems pretty stupid, to me, but I won’t call this a ripoff. I’m of the school of thought that anything is worth what the market will bear. And the market seems to bear a lot of fools.

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  10. Sorry, I need to purchase clothes that I can wear to the grocery store. I wonder if the creators really think there is a need for this or just think that there are a lot of people who like to waste their money on something just because it is different and they get bragging rights.

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  12. What an interesting concept. I feel like this could save some ppl some money. Namely, a few of my friends have been known to purchase clothing just for instagram pics (I don’t do this and find it a bit bizarre myself) but this would probably be more cost effective for those ppl? I generally am a late comer when it comes to embracing new technological advances- I’m never the first person to get the newest computer, the newest phone or the best gadgets just to say I have it/tried it. But one thing about fashion I have appreciated is when you go on some retail websites, now they have videos of models wearing and showing off the clothing so you can see how it actually flows and fits on an actual moving body as opposed to a picture. I’ve found those so helpful when deciding what to buy or not!

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    1. Even if this technology didn’t save these people who like to post things on Instagram and money, it could save the environment a bit by not using all those resources to make something that would only be worm once.

      and I can see how that technology you mention of seeing what a piece of clothing actually looks like on a moving person could be helpful…

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  15. Oh, wow! I guess it makes sense if your fashion presence is entirely/mostly online, and I do agree that there are too many clothes in the world. Just a peek into my closet can confirm that, while I wear the same 2 pair of pants and a few tshirts over and over again.

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