Fashion fans have always hankered for the rarest designs that are hard to get hold of. Now designers are taking exclusivity to new heights by selling garments that their customers will never wear or even touch.
Welcome to the world of couture “digital clothing”, in which the desire to look good online is prioritised over what we wear in real life.
The trend is being pioneered by companies such as the Dutch fashion house The Fabricant and the Norwegian retailer Carlings. Customers send in pictures of themselves and a designer will “dress” them virtually, digitally rendering the clothes on to their body. Customers can then show themselves wearing high-end garments that will never exist in the real world to friends and followers on social media.
“If the amount of care that goes into meticulously editing an Instagram photo or caption today hints at anything, it’s that our intention for how we’re perceived online is boundless,” said Matt Klein, a cultural researcher at the consultancy Sparks & Honey. “As we spend an increasing amount of time and energy in online spaces, it only makes sense that we’re discussing purchases to radically enhance our online appearance.”
A dress named “iridescence”, that is considered the first ever “digital haute couture”, was bought for $9,500 at a charity auction in San Francisco in May by Richard Ma, chief executive of Quantstamp, the digital security company, for his wife’s birthday.
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Mr Ma, 31, considers the purchase to be a “first of its kind” investment that will grow in value as more people begin to dress digitally. “It’s nice to be taking part in a new piece of history,” he said. “I really believe in the future we will be living more of our lives wearing digital clothing, it is only a matter of time.”
The dress was designed by digital-only clothing designers The Fabricant. Kerry Murphy, 37, co-founder and chief executive, said that the company was regularly approached by major brands to “dress” their models, including Alexander McQueen, Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein. “The fashion industry has been too much the same for almost 100 years,” he said. “The digitisation allows for a new space and new business model.”
Defenders of digital fashion argue their carbon footprint is also minimal compared to traditional practices. A pop-up shop called Hot:Second in Shoreditch, east London, last week invited visitors to donate unwanted pieces of clothing in exchange for seeing themselves in a digital garment.
Karinna Nobbs, founder of Hot:Second, said: “What I’m trying to ask people is: if you had a digital garment experience which just now is a picture, can you get enough of an endorphin hit as when you go to somewhere on the high street and purchase something?”
