New York Fashion Week & Luby: The experience of a fashion show inside the metaverse

Last year, McKinsey, a specialized consulting firm in the United States,?released a survey on the metaverse?that managed to situate, in a much broader way, the consumer's relationship with this new type of technology.

Conducted with at least 1K people, between 13 and 70 years old, the study showed that 55% of those guided, who classify the metaverse as the “internet of the future”, not only know the new concept, but are already preparing for it. The scenario shows the involvements arriving in different audiences and environments. This shows that the consumer's relationship with brands must undergo transformation.

On the other hand, brands also are working towards this. In a practical example, in the fashion world, last year's New York Fashion Week has already made adjustments and entered the metaverse for good. The situation even mobilized stylists to exchange physical presence for virtual. And this year, the situation was no different. Initiated last Friday, NYFW, one of the largest events on a world scale, followed the technological trend, including Brazilian participation.

In an unprecedented way, the ceremony had the participation of a technology company from Brazil, bringing an experience of the current technological world. Luby,?specialized in digital acceleration and innovation, took the experience of a fashion show into the metaverse. In partnership with North Americans Vatom and Propy, specialists?respectively in metaverse engine and real estate 3D modeling, Luby designed the experience for the Chinese designer Vivienne Tam. The brand's challenge was to replicate the NYFW show within the virtual space.

In the scope, developed in two weeks, we were left with the reproduction of the metaverse in two environments of the show: the red carpet and the main stage. To this end, the idea followed by the stylist herself was to build a bridge between the virtual world and the material realm, with a collection, as she calls it, looking at the metaverse: present, past and future.

In an interview with the Chinese newspaper Jing Daily, Vivienne commented that this new experience is a physical component in which the younger generations open up space to talk and create opportunities with the older generations. And that's exactly what the project allowed. If, on the one hand, the stylist brings seams and edges that print avatars and a collection that combines genres and generations, on the other hand, Luby brought a futuristic experience.

Luby set up the main stage of the metaverse, allocating screens with streams of the event's live feed. In addition, portals were included that allow interaction between the physical and virtual environments. The registration of guests was developed on top of the Vatom platform, customized according to what was requested by the Vivienne Tam’s brand.

On the contrary, the guests also had the red carpet experience. Around it, Luby implemented a space for photos, the step in repeat, which gives exclusive access to VIPs, for the first 30 minutes. The set also features videos from the 2022 show and a broadcast feed in the care of Luby. The company was also responsible for the transmission in the metaverse.

In addition, the ceremony also has a tokenization. Event participants won an NFT, the POAP: Proof of Attendance Protocol. Through it, VIPs will have an exclusive version that still gives access to the blocked areas of the event in the metaverse.

Technologies and skills on the rise

While Vatom provided the platform and Propy 3D models, Luby was in charge of the gamification strategy, platform configuration and 3D experience. A developer in the games area, a game illustrator and a PM (project manager) took care of the relevant process for the Brazilian company. The envisioned goal was to bring the legendary Fashion Week experience into an interactive 3D environment, and it has been done.