New York is abuzz right now with scores of fashion brands pulling back the curtain on their latest collections for New York Fashion Week.
But BCBGMaxAzria has decided to showcase its latest collaboration with celebrity stylist Maeve Reilly in a different venue: the metaverse.
On Thursday, the decades-old label, now owned by Marquee Brands, sent out notices to customers to click on a link to see Reilly and BCBGMaxAzria creative director Albino Riganello as avatars introducing the 16-piece eveningwear collaboration, which debuted in the real world in January.
When the two creative types started brainstorming one year ago, they had no idea the collection would be presented on a metaverse runway. But now the two have their own avatars. Riganello’s avatar will take a bow at the beginning of the presentation, and Reilly’s avatar will walk the collection, which is viewable online through Feb. 16.
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The advantage of the metaverse is that you can create your avatar to look any way you want. So Riganello said he added more hair to his digital doppelgänger and Reilly said she tweaked her jawline.
“I think this is just so cool,” Riganello said from New York. “I’m excited.”
Guests checking into the BCBGMaxAzria metaverse fashion show will be the first to view the collection in this format. All styles will be available to shop in the real world, company executives said.
“Obviously this is a new medium,” said Tim Reid, the executive vice president of Marquee Brands, which acquired BCBGMaxAzria and its portfolio of labels out of bankruptcy in 2017 for $108 million. “The goal is to really extend the campaign to a global customer base.”
“A lot of people don’t have a chance to go to a fashion show, or if they view it on video, they’ve seen that sort of thing a million times,” Reid noted. “Here, they can jump into this new medium and see something fun and exciting where they can check out the collection.”
The collection, which retails online for $198 to $428, includes minimalist menswear-inspired tailoring, eveningwear, minidresses and floor-length maxidresses.
“This was presented to me as an eveningwear collection, and I had never been able to do eveningwear before,” said Reilly, who as a stylist has worked with celebrities including Megan Fox, Hailey Bieber and Winnie Harlow. “I was excited about it because I’ve obviously done so much red-carpet dressing over the years. I liked the idea of being able to create pieces that my clients could wear.”
This also filled her early childhood dream of being a designer, but she couldn’t draw or sew. Instead, she studied business at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York before embarking on her career. “It was fun to scratch that itch,” the Los Angeles-based stylist said.
Virtual runway shows are becoming another way for fashion brands to extend their reach to fans and customers. Last year, for the first time, there was a Metaverse Fashion Week, which hosted more than 108,000 people who explored the world of wearables and digital fashion. Brands included Tommy Hilfiger, Etro, Selfridges, Dolce & Gabbana, Guo Pei, Paco Rabanne and others. The event, organized by Decentraland and others, will return March 28 to 31 with a “Future Heritage” theme.
But BCBGMaxAzria decided to do its own metaverse fashion show ahead of Metaverse Fashion Week to coincide with New York Fashion Week. “I think this broadens our reach,” Reid said. “I think we will learn a lot from this and have a lot of fun.”