Digital Materialism and How Gen Z are Building Pathways to XR and VP Acceptance
London College of Fashion students redefine retail through immersive fashion exploration in partnership with M-XR
Despite the global digital clothing industry estimated to reach 4.8 billion USD by 2031, revolutionary digital fashion experiences today are often dismissed by consumers. Funded by XR Network +, which aims to establish a ten-year research agenda for virtual production (VP) related content creation and consumption for the creative and digital economies, our aim was to shine a light on what actually drives interaction with diverse XR fashion product experiences.
Once assets were created for our interfaces (VR, MR, AR, and Desktop), we conducted our ethnographic observations and interviews with 12 Gen Z participants studying at London College of Fashion.
To address our research aim, we worked with industry partner, M-XR, celebrated for their scanning technology which accurately represents digital fabrics/textures in far greater detail than previously possible. M-XR provided scans of textured fabrics that FIA’s Lead Creative Technologist Costas Kazantzis translated into 3D materials. A 3D mesh was prepared and the materials applied with curated lighting, finally resulting in 3D digital fashion assets (e.g. dresses, handbags, shorts, coats) exported into different interfaces for testing.
The results have led to 3 key implications relevant to retail and fashion brands: Create Environmental Synergy; Embrace the Social Factor; and Co-Create Experiences.
Our findings have allowed us to establish heightened focus and the development of a further research agenda on immersive storytelling and the relationship between VP and the customer experience. We look forward to future exploratory studies in this rapidly evolving space celebrating the collaboration between industry and academia, as well as the FIA and Fashion Business School.
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