Shopping on Steroids: Electric/City and the Future of Fashion and Retail

To celebrate 25 years of Pokémon, London-based designer Charli Cohen joined forces with the iconic brand, Selfridges and storytelling production house Yahoo RYOT Lab to launch Electric/City - a virtual environment, inspired by the fashion capitals of the world, modeling how technology is transforming online shopping experiences.?

Visitors of the Charli Cohen x Pokémon real-life pop-up store are prompted to scan a QR code, leading to the virtual world of Electric/City. Once logged in, users can explore the three dimensional neo-noir-like universe and shop the limited edition Charli Cohen x Pokémon collection, along with the exclusively digital collection Kaleidodrip.?

Mastering the 'Brandiverse'?

The experience starts when you exit the underground to Central Square, which looks like a hybrid of Tokyo and New York, although characters carrying signature yellow Selfridges bags suggest you are in London. However, the bags are just the beginning; the sky is crowded with neon signs advertising for Charli Cohen, Selfridges and Yahoo, including an interactive billboard providing a direct link to Selfridges 2025 strategy ‘Project Earth’ - certainly not what you would expect to find in most games.

From there, users are given the choice to visit the Festival Park or the Backstreet Afterparty. The Festival Park, which bears an uncanny resemblance to the City Hall Square in Copenhagen, is dedicated to the Charli Cohen x Pokémon physical collection. Similarly to Central Square, the sky is plastered with branded billboards - one even decorated with the production team’s (cyber)dogs, Suki and Juno. On stage, two avatars dance around nonchalantly while wearing the collection, which can be bought from the merch truck, directing you to the Selfridges ecommerce site.?

An Afterparty For the Future?

Reputable party-goers know that the afterparty is the main event, and this conventional wisdom holds true in Electric/City. While the Central Square and Festival Park are largely creative takes on immersive ecommerce experiences, the Backstreet Afterparty, dedicated to the Charli Cohen Kaleidodrip digital collection, gives us a glimpse of the future.

To the tune of Tobacco Rat’s scrap metal crashes and distorted bass sounds, avatars wearing the collection move their bodies more subtly, in repetitive rave style, just like you would expect at a ‘real’ afterparty. If you fancy buying the digital collection, ￡20 will make you the owner of a randomly selected digital ‘wearable’ from the Charli Cohen Kaleidodrip collection.?

The Charli Cohen Kaleidodrip limited edition, digital collection contains four digital ‘wearables’?created as non fungible tokens (or NFTs), which ensures your ownership and documents scarcity, as the first 2000 packs are being stamped as first editions.?

Included in the digital pack is the Ready Player Me avatar builder, allowing you to create and dress a 3D avatar from a selfie, viewable in augmented reality. What this means is essentially, that the garment purchased appears not only in your digital ‘wallet’ -? it can be worn on yourself, digitally, as a Snapchat lens, or by your personal avatar, integrated by 300+ virtual platforms across the metaverse.

Transforming Online Shopping Experiences ?

While the Electric/City brandiverse may not be for everyone, it is a testament to how a hybrid of emerging technologies can be used to create immersive brand experiences at scale. Electric/City is a showcase for the utility of NFTs - owners of the wearables pay for more than bragging rights - they are given the technical ownership of their item(s), which means they can be moved and worn in any destination across the metaverse.?

As part of the launch, Yahoo Ryot Lab, alongside Charli Cohen and Selfridges, ran a three-day in-store launch where visitors could register for a digital wallet to enter a physical easter egg hunt, with the opportunity to win physical prizes or one of Charli Cohen’s digital collectables. Due to popular demand, Electric/City will remain open for another month. To experience it with your own eyes (or avatar) head to the Charli Cohen x Pokémon real-life pop-up store located on atrium 2 in Selfridges or go straight to the virtual world of Electric/City.?

The Authors?

Adrian Kozhevnikov is a technologist, entrepreneur and co-founder of the Luxury Four Zero podcast. Adrian has a Master’s in Engineering from Oxford University, and he is passionate about designing seamless digital experiences - building numerous technology businesses as a result.

Sidsel Rytter L?schenkohl is a technology strategist, entrepreneur and co-founder of the Luxury Four Zero podcast. Sidsel has a Master’s in Organizational Innovation from Copenhagen Business school and has experience from building bespoke software for the fashion, fine spirits, diamond, and gemstone industries at Everledger.

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