The metaverse fashion stylists are here

When I met Jenni Svoboda, she was successful the midst of designing a beanie with a melted cupcake top, sprinkles, and doughnuts for ears.

“It’s thing you’d astir apt ne'er deterioration successful existent life,” she said with a laugh. But Svoboda isn’t designing for the carnal world. She’s designing for the metaverse. Svoboda is moving successful a burgeoning, if bizarre, caller niche: manner stylists who make oregon curate outfits for radical successful virtual spaces.

Most integer stylists equilibrium their metaverse clients with real-world gigs. Michaela Leitz-Askalan, for example, runs a plus-size styling concern successful the existent satellite but decided to commencement selling her services arsenic a metaverse manner stylist aft hanging retired successful the 3D virtual satellite Decentraland, wherever her outfits got her compliments from strangers. 

Another stylist, British world tv manner adept Gemma Sheppard, made the leap to styling radical successful integer spaces aft her goddaughter asked her to bargain a brace of $60 sparkly shoes for her Roblox avatar 3 Christmases ago. 

But not each metaverse stylists started retired doing a real-world mentation of the job. Svoboda spends her days designing integer covering and accessories connected Roblox, wherever her unsocial manner consciousness has made her an it-girl. People are lining up to wage to larn from her.

Being a metaverse manner stylist isn’t presently a gig that tin wage each the bills connected its own. Leitz-Askalan says that metaverse styling accounts for astir 20% of her income successful a bully month, and some she and Sheppard juggle aggregate jobs successful existent life.

They accidental it’s inactive worthy it, though, due to the fact that the occupation offers the unsocial accidental to enactment successful a caller mean and larn caller skills. Leitz-Askalan launched her metaverse styling concern a mates of years ago, gathering with clients connected Discord, a chat level fashionable with gamers. She designed lookbooks to assistance them formal their avatars connected platforms similar Decentraland, DressX, and Auroboros.

Her clients get an expertly curated outfit; she gets $49 successful cryptocurrency. To Leitz-Askalan’s clients, it’s good worthy the money. “People are like, ‘I privation to effort brainsick things,’” she says. “And I emotion that.”

Svoboda is chiefly a creator designing covering and accessories for Roblox avatars, but she has begun to benignant clients’ avatars arsenic well, and she’s meticulous astir moving retired however to bash it. 

“We person to trial-and-error it,” she says. Svoboda volition often look done users’ past of outfits, inquire who their favourite artists and influencers are, and past make looks that acceptable their aesthetic.

“People springiness maine notes and I spell into the [Roblox] catalogue and prime retired worldly that represents them,” she says. Svoboda besides helps radical snag their favourite influencers’ outfits, creating elaborate “what they wore” pages linking to products.

None of them accidental it retired loud, but it’s apt that immoderate stylists are astatine slightest partially attracted by the imaginable to leap into what’s perchance a precise lucrative marketplace aboriginal successful the game. 

The metaverse manner manufacture is increasing rapidly, and companies similar Roblox are already raking successful hundreds of millions of dollars connected integer clothes. In 2022, implicit 11.5 cardinal creators made 62 cardinal covering and accessory items connected Roblox alone. DressX, an online integer manner marketplace, has raised $4.2 million successful effect backing since its motorboat successful 2020 and is 1 of a fewer brands Meta is moving with to motorboat its ain avatar manner marketplace for its virtual platform, Horizon Worlds. And the satellite of haute couture is experimenting with autarkic metaverse projects aft palmy runs connected different platforms, specified arsenic Gucci’s “vault" wherever radical tin browse exclusive integer fashions and play games.

Not each these outfits are pricey; indeed, galore tin beryllium obtained for free. But there’s a increasing marketplace of super-exclusive outfits released successful collaboration with designers that outgo hundreds, adjacent thousands, of dollars connected Roblox, whose demographic veers young but is progressively divers successful presumption of property and socioeconomic status, according to the 3 stylists I spoke to.

If radical can’t snag the worldly they want, a vibrant secondhand marketplace exists: “In the metaverse, you tin merchantability things for often greater prices than what you initially purchased them for,” says Sheppard, who has styled Charli XCX and the Grammys reddish carpet connected Roblox. A cleanable illustration is simply a Carolina Herrera Spring/Summer 2023 dress. The sunny, floral gown was modeled by Karlie Kloss successful the designer’s New York Fashion Week showcase. Svoboda created a integer mentation of the formal with Herrera’s backing and Kloss promoted it, releasing the plan for 500 Robux, oregon $5. The 432 units sold retired successful 4 hours; today, the formal is worthy upwards of $5,000.

Leitz-Askalan agrees that the metaverse offers a accidental for radical to spell wholly chaotic with their avatars’ outfits. “Society tells you to look a definite way, but successful the metaverse, you tin beryllium anything,” she says. Her clients are consenting to effort avant-garde, eccentric fashions that they mightiness see excessively risky oregon implausible to propulsion disconnected successful existent life, she says. As a stylist, Leitz-Askalan loves that freedom, and she can’t assistance but opposition it with the experiences she has successful the existent world, wherever manner is overmuch much restricted and restrained.

People are adjacent utilizing virtual covering to play with and blur sex boundaries oregon research a broadside of themselves they mightiness person antecedently felt was inaccessible. A fewer weeks ago, Leitz-Askalan met with a antheral lawsuit connected Discord who gave her escaped rein to formal him successful immoderate she wanted, sex and conventions beryllium damned. The effect was an iridescent blue-winged fairy dress, with netted sleeves, a crown of roses twisted with bluish vines, and lavender kitten heels. Her lawsuit didn’t expect it—and loved it. 

MICHAELA LEITZ / CONFIDENCE-STYLE.COM

Svoboda, who is trans, says exploring integer manner tin besides assistance radical flight assemblage dysmorphia and feelings of discomfort astir their appearance. It allows radical to absorption purely connected the apparel and however they look connected a virtual platform. 

“When I’m moving connected a dress, it’s going to acceptable connected the [avatar’s] body, nary substance if they are a antheral oregon a woman, and that’s beautiful,” she says. “They tin beryllium a man, a woman, pre-op, post-op, whatever—it’s inactive going to beryllium a dress, and it’s inactive going to acceptable them.” It’s a constituent that’s echoed by Leitz-Askalan, who often works with curvier oregon larger radical who whitethorn person societally-driven insecurities astir assemblage image.

In theory, anyone tin deterioration thing successful the metaverse. Someone’s integer aforesaid doesn’t person to instrumentality quality signifier oregon adjacent person a body, allowing for look that simply can’t beryllium successful the carnal world. Both Svodoba and Leitz-Askalan person styled non-human avatars, and it’s an country of experimentation that excites them both. People are realizing that successful the metaverse, apparel don’t person to travel the rules. Want to beryllium a centaur? Sure. How astir a vampire with spidery legs? Why not!