According to a report from Decrypt, new Gucci creative director Sabato de Sarno made his highly anticipated runway debut at Milan Fashion Week on Friday and also unveiled a metaverse re-creation of the show available to anyone on multiple platforms.
The collection, entitled “Ancora”, is described by the brand as “a story of joy of life, of passion, of humanity, of people, of real life"—as well as "inclusive, as in everyone is welcomed.”
The Kering-owned Italian brand has converted the event into dedicated experiences playing out on gaming platforms Roblox, South Korea’s Zepeto, and China’s QQ, making sure that the previously mentioned theme of "inclusivity" also extends to the metaverse.
The real-life Milan runway was scheduled to take place outdoors, but due to teeming rains, the venue was changed last minute to indoors. The metaverse shows took place in the "digital outdoors" as planned.
Gucci Town on Roblox, the House’s permanent experience that launched in May of 2022, has been renamed and now will be known as Gucci Ancora, which features a newly improved design that carries visitors to a meta-version of the show’s in-real-life (IRL) geographic location in Milan’s creative Brera district.
Roblox players can engage flat artwork in the world, which unlocks immersive quests that let them unlock elements of the real-world show and other content—including promised “surprises, Easter eggs, and secret portals.”
Though Gucci's classic Jackie purse took to the Milan runway on Friday, Gucci’s relationship with Roblox dates back to the 2021 launch and sale of a virtual Dionysus handbag in a digital sale of signature accessories.
It was priced at 475 Robux (around $6 USD) in the initial sale, but demand grew. When the items were later resold, the resale values climbed as high as $4,115, which exceeded the $3,400 price tag of the real-world, physical bag.
Recurring elements from both the Brera district and the runway show also appear in the reformatted Gucci Ancora space on Zepeto, where avatars can come upon designs from the physical show screened in a purpose-built theater.
Zepeto recently livestreamed Gucci’s Cruise runway show, also holding an avatar version of the event where guests could buy merchandise from a virtual Gucci store. QQ is hosting a screening where its Gucci community can partake as well.
According to a statement issued to Decrypt by Gucci, a “‘Digital First’ imperative and ‘test and learn’ approach” are vital to its business plan of action.
Alongside previously mentioned partnerships with gaming platforms, the house broke into Web3 in 2021 with the successful auction of its first NFT via Christie’s. Since then, it has partnered with native NFT communities, including 10KTF via its Gucci Vault platform.
In July, Gucci collaborated with Christie’s once more on an NFT sale presenting the works of top digital artists including Iskra Velitchkova, who created a generative algorithm inspired by the handle of another bag — the Bamboo 1947.
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