DREST LAUNCHES A NEW GAME + TOP10 NEWS AND STORIES OF THE WEEK
DREST TAKES FASHION GAMING TO A NEW LEVEL WITH IMMRSIVEE LUXURY EXPERIENCES
Key Takeaways from WWD :
The new game launches globally with exclusive partners Versace and the Fashion Awards , presented by Pandora .
Drest , which is working with more than 260 brands, also wants to create an “rvr” or real-virtual-real experience, with gamers able to win prizes inside and outside the game, hone their styling skills with each play, level up and impress their magazine “editor” with looks for virtual shoots.
The game involves interactive journeys and the ability for gamers to share their content inside and outside the game, “becoming active participants in the broader cultural conversation,” according to Drest.
The launch is the first under Drest’s new co-chief executive officer Daniel Sv?rd , who joined the company earlier this year.
In an interview alongside Lucy Yeomans , founder and co-CEO, Sv?rd said Drest refined its approach partly because people don’t want to be passive observers anymore.
“They want to become active participants, to co-create content and feel that they belong to a community,” he said, adding that Drest is taking the core experience of a fashion styling game, “and adding an editorial story line around it which is interactive, participatory and meaningful. That’s what a fashion experience is truly about.”
Sv?rd, who was previously at King, the Swedish video game developer and publisher behind Candy Crush Saga, said online games can no longer be “one-dimensional.” The challenge for creators now is to offer a variety of experiences, to keep people interested, playing, learning and dwelling in the game.
He said Drest’s games are not about handing users a virtual handbag and asking them to style it, but rather about giving them bigger collections, more brands and a richer context in which to work.
At the end of a game, he wants users to “walk away having learned about a collection or a brand, and about what certain items look like in various settings, and on different types of models, shapes and bodies.”
Drest’s core audience is between the ages of 18 and 29, but Sv?rd and Yeomans are also paying close attention to the cohort aged 29 to 35. “There’s a huge opportunity there because of our fusion of gaming and then publishing. What we’re offering is as much a content and creative experience as it is a game,” said Yeomans.
Yeomans is also putting her past experience into play with this new iteration of Drest. She said that offering a rich brand experience is key for both the gamers and the fashion companies.
“In the past, when we did anything with a brand, whether it was Gucci asking [users] to style a new campaign, or creating looks with Messika jewelry where Kate Moss was the judge, we had much higher engagement,” she said.
She added that in the gaming environment, the rewards are potentially very rich for brands. By taking a starring role in a Drest game, they can appeal to new audiences and engage in fun, fresh ways with an existing fashion-loving cohort.
She added that the new game allows for “far deeper storytelling” and a variety of brands have signed on.?
Yeomans, who spent her career editing glossy magazines including Harper’s Bazaar U.K. and Porter before becoming a gaming entrepreneur, said it was important that Drest offer the trappings of a luxury experience to its audience.
Looking ahead, Yeomans said she’s talking to brands about creating more styling challenges where they can potentially use assets from destination fashion shows and events as the backdrop for immersive games.
The brands, she said, are looking into repeating destination fashion shows with Drest, “using all of the amazing elements that they created, and re-running the shows when their collections actually drop.”
Drest plans to set challenges around fashion industry figures, such as editors, designers and celebrity stylists. Gamers will have the chance to do an edit of clothing inspired by each figure’s style. Next year, Drest will begin exploring a philanthropic events angle.
“We want Drest to be a force for good, one that really celebrates the amazing elements of this exciting world, the people, the product, and the depth of storytelling,” said Yeomans.
DAYDREAM IS POISED TO BE A "CHATGPT OF SHOPPING"
Key Takeaways from The Business of Fashion:
?? In the first public demonstration of her new AI shopping platform, Daydream , Julie Bornstein outlined her vision of how generative AI will transform product search and discovery.
??♂? “The problem is information overload,” Bornstein said at BoF VOICES 2024. “The amount of input that human brands are getting every second of everyday is something the human species has never experienced — too many pages, too many products.”
?? Her solution is Daydream, an AI-powered shopping platform. Like ChatGPT or Microsoft’s Copilot, Daydream allows users to ask questions via text prompts like “what can I wear to a ‘vintage 1920s’-themed party?” and receive a feed of recommended products, with images and prices, that they can then refine further. Customers can also use images to search.
??♂? The platform allows shoppers to save items they like and builds a customer profile based on their browsing activity it calls a “Style Passport.” The more time a user spends on the platform, the more customised Daydream’s results.Bornstein and her co-founders, who include Matt Fisher , Dan Cary , Lisa Yamner Green and Richard Kim are racing to create the first big consumer-facing shopping platform built on using generative AI to solve?the problem of search and discovery in e-commerce.
??♂? In June Daydream?announced $50 million in seed funding. The round was led by Forerunner Ventures and Index Ventures. Google’s venture arm, GV, as well as True Ventures, were also investors.“At Daydream, the way we’re thinking about solving this problem is creating what’s in essence ChatGPT for shopping,” Bornstein said. “If you have the ability to ask anything you want, we have the ability to help you.”Daydream, which will charge a commission on sales, is her next big swing. It’s already working with 2,000 brands, including Gucci, H&M, Net-a-Porter and Alo Yoga.
“My career journey has been a mirror to tech development over the last 20 years,” Bornstein said. “Our goal is to build a personal stylist for everyone, but in the meantime we’re focused on conversational search.”
GLOBAL LUXURY SALES FALL 2%
IN 2024Key Takeaways from Reuters :
? Sales of personal luxury goods are projected to fall 2 percent this year, marking one of the weakest performances on record, as price hikes and economic uncertainty shrink the industry’s customer base, particularly in China.Sales of personal luxury goods are set to fall 2 percent this year, making it one of the weakest on record, with price hikes and economic uncertainty shrinking the industry’s customer base, according to consultancy Bain & Company .
? In its closely-watched report on the 363-billion-euro ($386 billion) market, Bain estimated a 20-22 percent sales drop in China, which has turned into a drag after a years-long boom before the pandemic fuelled by the wealthy and growing middle-class.? The forecasts include the effect of currency moves.“This is the first time the personal luxury goods industry has declined since the 2008-09 crisis, with the exception of the pandemic,” Bain partner Federica Levato told Reuters.
? The study released on Wednesday will likely heighten concerns among investors that the sector’s current downturn, which has knocked shares in the likes of LVMH and Kering , may be longer and deeper than anticipated. Global sales of luxury personal goods - spanning clothing, accessories and beauty products - are expected to be flat at constant exchange rates during the holiday season, with China’s performance still negative, Levato said.A shift by brands to position their products within a higher price band, coupled with weaker consumer confidence amid wars, China’s economic woes and elections across the globe, has led many customers, especially younger ones, to forgo purchases.
? “The luxury consumer base has declined by 50 million over the last two years, from a total of approximately 400 million consumers,” Levato said.Growth prospects for the market hinge partly on the strategies brands choose to pursue, including on pricing, she added.
In a further sign that higher prices are holding back consumers, Bain said the outlet channel was outperforming, driven by shoppers’ quest for value. The personal luxury goods sector is expected to grow by between 0 percent and 4 percent at constant exchange rates in 2025, supported by sales in Europe and the Americas, with China seen recovering only in the second part of the year, Bain said.?? Levato said Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election had removed one uncertainty, while possible interest rate and tax cuts could encourage Americans to spend more.In contrast to personal goods, luxury spending on experiences, such as hospitality and dining, is expected to increase this year, Bain said.
UNDER TRUMP, TARIFFS COULD REWRITE U.S. FASHION'S PLAYBOOK
Key Takeaways from Vogue Business
?? The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) is revamping their approach to working with lawmakers
?? In bad news for European luxury brands, Goldman Sachs economists were scrambling to revamp their 2025 economic growth forecasts for Europe, using a conservative estimate of what Trump’s plans might mean. On Thursday, they slashed an already anemic growth estimate to 0.8 per cent from 1.1 per cent. They also cut forecasts for 2026, and warned that if Trump actually imposes the full tariffs he promised, the forecasts will be further slashed.
?? Trump has pledged to deport millions of undocumented workers. That’s difficult for the industry to protest, without conceding that it employs undocumented or falsely documented workers. The American fashion industry is rife with low-wage workers in cotton production, cut-and-sew factories, sorting houses and other parts of the supply chain that consumers rarely witness. Removing some of them from the labour supply will raise labour costs and apparel prices in a US economy that is already at or near full employment.
?? In the background of all this is general angst: the apparel industry employs a great number of women and LGBTQIA+ workers who are concerned about social issues including access to health care and the continued right to gay marriage.
?? Ninety-eight per cent of clothing and footwear consumed in the US is manufactured overseas because the US apparel manufacturing industry was wiped out as factories moved offshore beginning in the 1970s.
?? Some advocates are hoping that the Trump administration, with its hostility to Chinese imports, will be more amenable to revising or ending the ‘de minimis’ rule that allows small shipments of many imports worth less than $800 to avoid tariffs. The de minimis rule inadvertently helped to create an ultra-fast fashion boom in the US after Congress raised the minimum from $200 in 2016 to encourage e-commerce.
?? Hopes to revamp that and impose a more unified federal regulatory framework could raise support for the Americas Act, a proposal with bipartisan support to encourage trade within the Western hemisphere. The trade act would close the de minimis rule and create incentives for apparel recycling among trading partners, including $14 billion in loans and grants for retrofitting infrastructure and machinery, and tax breaks for textile resales.
IS LUXURY IN THE MIDST OF A RECALIBRATION?
Key Takeaways from Jing Daily
?? With more luxury giants reporting flagging sales, the focus could shift further from aggressive expansion to cutbacks and acquisitions. As luxury’s momentum sputters, more industry players are turning in weak sales performance.
?? Capri Holdings Limited , parent company to Versace , Jimmy Choo , and Michael Kors , saw revenue drop 16.4% YoY to $1.08 billion in Q2 of FY 2025, with Versace plummeting by 28.2% and Michael Kors by 16%, despite Jimmy Choo’s 6% growth, it reported on November 7.The disappointing results arrive after a US federal judge blocked Coach owner Tapestry ’s $8.5 billion?deal to acquire Capri last month.
?? Also, Richemont last week reported a 1% YoY dip in global sales, impacted by an 18% slide in Asia-Pacific, offset only by a 25% boost in Japan and 12% growth in the Americas. LVMH and Moncler reported similar trends last month, both posting 3% sales declines, while Kering ’s revenue fell by 16% YoY.
?? As demand wanes, especially in China, the market may be on the cusp of a consolidation phase. Italy’s OTB Group, previously considered an industry dark horse, recently scaled back its retail footprint in China. The company has closed several of its Maison Margiela , Marni , and JIL SANDER stores across major cities and retail hubs – including in Hong Kong’s K11 Musea, Sogo Causeway Bay, and Chengdu IFS – as it restructures its retail network.
?? Louis Vuitton , too, has tempered its China expansion plans, opening just one new store, located in Nanchang City’s Jiangxi Province, in the mainland this year. Despite owner LVMH emphasizing its commitment to continuing investment in the Chinese market during its Q3 performance meeting.
?? At the same time, LVMH’s venture capital arm, LVMH Luxury Ventures, has made a minority stake investment in the Swedish label Our Legacy, signaling a strategic shift toward global mid-tier luxury brands. This move reflects LVMH’s intent to diversify its portfolio, gaining access to new markets and tapping into more resilient segments, such as affordable luxury, to meet evolving consumer demand.
?? With aggressive expansion plans on pause, industry players are getting strategic with their investments. Burberry , for example, has sparked takeover rumors, with Moncler, backed by LVMH, reportedly eyeing the brand to form an “outdoor specialist giant” – though both parties have declined to comment. Meanwhile, Mulberry England last month rejected an 83 million British pounds ($106.9 million) takeover bid from Frasers Group , which already holds a 37% stake in the British brand, after the company posted a 34.1 million British pounds ($28.2 million) pre-tax loss and announced plans to raise 10 million British pounds ($12.9 million) through new shares.
META CREATES DIGITAL TWIN "METAVERSITIES
Key Takeaways from TechCrunch :
?? Meta has launched?a new partnership with a slew of universities in the U.S. and U.K., designed to provide feedback on a new product that Meta hopes will finally make VR just a little more mainstream.
?? The new Meta for Education beta program will see Facebook’s parent company partner with 13 educational institutions, which will get access to an early version of a product that Meta has been teasing for a while already. In a?blog post?on Monday, Meta said it wants to “make it easier for educators to discover interactive and engaging content,” spanning subjects such as science, medicine, history, and language arts.
The universities include: Arizona State University , Houston Community College , Imperial College London , Miami Dade College , Morehouse College , New Mexico State University , San Diego State University , Savannah College of Art and Design , The University of Glasgow Public Policy Society , University of Iowa , University of Leeds University of Miami , and University of Michigan .
Meta also said it’s bringing its “digital twin” metaversity program to Europe, starting with the University of Leeds in the U.K.; University of the Basque Country in Spain; and the University of Hannover in Germany. Meta says “immersive classes” have begun already at the University of Leeds, with an initial focus on performance and theater. The University of Basque Country, meanwhile, will follow suit in February 2025 with classes on physiotherapy and anatomy, while the University of Hannover will offer immersive classes starting in the next academic year.
?? With Apple throwing its hat?into the immersive headset ring?with the Vision Pro, some believe this could be the catalyst to catapult mixed reality — including VR and AR — into the mainstream arena.
POST WEB: READ, WRITE, OWN, DELEGATE
Key Takeaways from CoinDesk by Jamie Burke
?? We are moving from the era of the “Attention Economy,” where internet properties compete for our mindshare, to the “Intention Economy,” where agents work to optimally solve our intentions, forming an unprecedented market super cycle.
In parallel, we’ve seen advances and adoption of AI. From large language models (LLMs) to agentic networks, they have shown that user interfaces can become more intuitive and handle greater task complexity.
?? It's now becoming clear that to unlock Web3’s full potential, we require LLMs as a more intuitive and natural language front-end interface. Agentic networks then can carry out complex backend behaviours on-chain via intents-based-architectures, whether signing transactions or bridging and swapping between different networks. In other words, crypto and AI are convergent and highly complementary technologies.
?? Fast-forward to the present day. There are now over 195 startups at this?AI-crypto intersection, and it has become one of the hottest categories of 2024, with a combined market cap of $28 billion.
?? We have spent hundreds of hours talking with founders across our network and portfolio of close to 400 startups to distil down this future into a formal thesis and serialised audio documentary, to be released over the coming weeks. We hope to help the industry prepare and navigate the process of convergence and a Post Web future.