Towards the end of last year, brands such as Ciaté London and above&beyond entered the virtual sphere through NFTs. But how is the industry evolving with the presence of the Metaverse?

VICE explains the Metaverse as being “a 3D version of the Internet and computing at large”, which is not yet complete in its entirety.

The inaugural Decentraland Metaverse Fashion Week (MVFW) took place last month, described as four days of runway shows, after parties, shopping, panel talks plus more. Estée Lauder was the exclusive beauty brand, which saw them partner with internationally renowned artist Dr Alex Box to create an NFT Wearable based on the brands Advanced Night Repair serum.

Speaking with the British Beauty Council, Dr Alex Box explained the inspiration behind the NFT Wearable as “enchantment, transcendence, transformation and joy. It’s a wearable NFT and a digital badge – POAP (proof of attendance ) called ‘Radiance Aura ‘a twinkling constellation of glow and magic inspired by the essence of Estée Lauder’s iconic product Advanced Night Repair. Decentraland, where the experience was held, as part of Metaverse first fashion week  is a fun and expressive environment. The wearable complemented the avatar’s existing identities by orbiting them with glow and energy. ‘Receiving the radiance’ in the Estée environment expands on the emotional narrative of ‘the product as experience.”

As we look beyond the here-and-now, we asked Dr Alex Box about her predictions for how the industry will evolve with the Metaverse, “the avatar is the gateway to the Metaverse and how we experience ourselves and each other is through our identity and experience. It’s enabling the possibilities of creating an immersive world around product allowing collective experience and unique interaction that connects you to the core spirit and essence of a brands vision. There are new categories emerging and new markets, digital only beauty products direct to avatar and downloadable identities as skins and tradable wearables. Right now, perception is very much in the hands of the aesthetic of the platform builders.

“In the Metaverse, which is the idea of a persistent open universe, we need open systems and tools to enable expansion and equitable freedom of expression. This will allow a much more fluid and diverse means to express individual ideas of beauty and how we look to set ourselves free of preconditioning”.

The opportunities which exist within the Metaverse for the industry continue to grow alongside the development of the technology, shaping the future of the industry to be one which is truly phygital.