For the launch of the store dedicated to the fashion customization of avatars, Mark Zuckerberg has recruited famous fashion houses such as Prada, Balenciaga, and Thom Browne, to be followed in the future by others.
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More and more companies are focusing on avatars as a solution to monetize users: in the Fortnite video game it is possible to customize your game character with various purchasable skins, while on Roblox it is possible to obtain, as game objectives, or by purchasing them, updates to the clothing of your own alterego, thanks to major fashion brands, such as Gucci, Tommy Hilfiger, GAP, etc. Now, even Meta, formerly Facebook Inc, has taken an interest in this, through its own digital store.
During a live broadcast on Instagram with Eva Chen, deputy head of fashion collaborations of the well-known photo sharing of Menlo Park, the CEO of the hi-tech giant Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, announced the launch of the “Meta Avatars Store” , which will be launched next week on the Facebook, Messenger and Instagram platforms, in markets – destined to be tested – such as the USA, Canada, Mexico and Thailand.
Inside the store, it will be possible to buy digital clothing items with which to customize your avatar, thanks to outfits initially offered only by Prada, Balenciaga, and Thom Browne.
Later, Zuckerberg, the second step will include the addition of other brands and the arrival of the initiative soon in the Metaverse, while the final step should consist in allowing digital creators to sell the digital fashion items created in this Meta Avatars Store. with the aim of offering them a monetization solution and launching what, in Zuckerberg’s intentions, should be not only a way to help users express themselves in the Metaverse, but also a real “engine of the creative economy”.
Prior to that announcement, at the beginning of the year, Meta announced both the 3D Avatars for Instagram and, on Messenger and Facebook, updates to the appearance of the avatars, with more skin tones, expressions, faces, and accessibility devices (hearing aids , wheelchairs, etc), then allowing users to either synchronize their avatar on all its platforms, including VR, or to have three different avatars on Messenger / Facebook, Oculus and Instagram.