What is Digital Dressing and How Does it Work?

Digital fashion is slowly making its way to the forefront of the retail industry. In the last few months alone, Nike acquired RTKFT and launched CryptoKicks, Gucci opened a virtual store, and American Eagle launched their first digital collection. But as sales of digital goods are starting to explode, a big question still remains: how do we wear our digital garments? Enter digital dressing. 

Digital dressing is the ability to wear digital garments through a combination of augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and/or digitally altered photos. While this concept may sound foreign, digital dressing has been available for quite some time. Snapchat, a leader in augmented reality technology, has offered digital dressing filters like sunglasses and sunflower headdresses since its early days. Instagram soon tagged along with their own library of AR effects. 

But now, with the introduction of NFTs and the blockchain, consumers can actually own their garments. Many digital fashion experts predict that soon we will be as focused on building out our digital closets as we are on our physical ones. 

Digital dressing also offers consumers the ability to transcend the limits and functionality of traditional garments. Even the most intricate physical garments are easily outdone by the waterfall denim, corrupted file dresses, and cloud capes of the digital fashion world. 

“You can wear clothes that float and have no gravity. You can have outfits that glow in different colors. You can have outfits that animate with different words or patterns—the possibilities are endless and fun.” – said Stephy Fung in an interview with Vice. 

What are examples of digital dressing?

Platforms like DressX and The Dematerialised have been built with this idea in mind, offering consumers a carefully curated selection of digital garments from a mix of legacy brands and independent designers. The digital dressing experience is broken into two sections: virtual try-on and post-purchase. 

Before purchasing, customers can try the garments on in AR in the DressX app. If they choose to purchase, they then upload a photo of themselves to the website or app. A few days later, they’ll receive a photo with their garment digitally rendered onto their bodies. Today, shoppers’ main use case for digital dressing is still flexing on social media. 

Unlike DressX, The Dematerialised provides buyers with the source files of their garment. Not only does this give them ownership over their digital goods, but it also allows them to edit their own images and use the files as many times as they see fit. 

Retailers Offering Virtual Try-On Options

Over the last few years, virtual-try on has been a huge lever for many retailers, actively lifting sales and decreasing returns. Brands like Rayban, Warby Parker, and Farfetch, have all offered AR-powered virtual try-on options, giving consumers a new way to interact with products.

As of last week, Snap opened up access to its AR try-on technology, in an effort to win over retailers and brands as they head to the metaverse. These tools, first rolled out to early testers like Puma and Ralph Lauren, will assist in the creation of 3D digital garments and can be easily integrated into the retailers’ existing applications. Snap also revealed a separate “Dress Up” section where users can continue to experience the virtual-try on technology firsthand.

Retailers with Virtual Fitting Rooms

Digital dressing has also made its way into brick-and-mortar retail. Although a fairly new addition to most stores, the global virtual fitting room market is predicted to grow from $3 million in 2019 to $6.5 million by 2025. Virtual dressing rooms offer a handful of benefits to both retailers and consumers around safety, convenience, loyalty, and conversion. 

Retailers like Macy’s, Adidas, Nordstrom, and Asos have all already added virtual fitting rooms to their most popular existing stores. 

The Future of Digital Dressing 

Even with all the excitement around digital fashion, there’s still a long way to go. AR filters can be spotty, with heavy lagging and poor tracking capabilities. Even to regular, less tech-savvy audiences, it’s evident that many of these “digitally dressed” garments are photoshopped on. 

Digital fashion will never replace physical fashion, but it will be an integral component of the way we express ourselves. As technology continues to advance, for better or for worse, we will likely spend more time in virtual environments. Through filters, goggles, and headsets, digital fashion will start to go from a cool perk to a must-have. And when that happens…we’ll be here to cover it all. 

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