7 Digital Fashion Houses To Know
In this exclusive feature for FEMALE by two final-year students from the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, we examine how dressing up in the digital age has taken quite an innovative – and sustainable – meaning.
By Jacinth Chia & Nicole Fong,
In November 2019, Richard Ma, CEO of San-Francisco based security company Quantstamp, bought a £7,500 (S$13,580) dress for his wife Mary Ren. A long-sleeved maxi with a lightweight, oil-slicked rainbow iridescent cape over the front.
But here’s the catch: this dress does not exist. Designed by Amsterdam-based digital fashion label The Fabricant, the dress was a digital garment Photoshopped onto an image of Ren to look like she was wearing it.
Enter the mystifying world of digital clothes.
Imagine shirts made of wisteria flowers that remain forever fresh, pants made of heavyweight PVC pipes, and glass slippers that now fit on everyone’s feet.
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Shards of glass and concrete that belong in a construction junkyard are now in the designer’s playground with the emergence of digital clothes, and these cutting-edge technologies will not be cutting anyone.
Made with 3D software programmes like CLO and Blender, digital clothes are realistic garments that are designed and rendered onto images. Naturally, some digital brands have also jumped onto the NFT bandwagon. To commemorate Earth Day on April 22, Singapore-based virtual clothing brand Republiqe added four crypto fashion looks into its NFT collection and is available for auction at rarible.com/republiqe until May 20.
From sophisticated wearable art to cyber punk rock, here are the fashion brands leading the way into the world of digital garments.
Why them: Think literal wearable art, with paintings like Van Gogh’s The Starry Night and Sunflowers on dresses and sweatshirts. DressX features 60 designers and more than 700 items on their site, according to co-founder Daria Shapovalova, making them perhaps the largest digital fashion retailer in the market so far. With curated collections to shop from such as “DressX Starter Pack,” “Digital Couture,” and “Dress(X) for Success,” the fashion house streamlines its collections to help buyers make a decision on what to get.
Where to shop: dress-x.com
Why them: With 22 years of experience in the fashion industry behind him, founder James Gaubert started Republiqe to help solve ethical and sustainability issues. That said, being part of the movement doesn’t mean the party has to stop. Republiqe is home to lots of outrageous and luxe pieces, including iridescent shimmy jackets, chrome ruffle dresses and pixie costumes. If these pieces existed in real life, they would fit right in at trendy parties, but luckily for the environment, they do just as nicely on Instagram feeds as well.
Where to shop: republiqe.co
Why them: Remember the $13,580 dress we spoke of at the start of this story? This is the brand responsible for that. Instead of having customers pay for editing services, the Fabricant provides its outfits in “ffrops” (free-file-drops) for them to use on 3D software applications such as CLO3D and Marvelous Designer on top of its occasional auction and sale pieces.
Where to shop: www.thefabricant.com
Why them: Known for their sneaker rendition of Tesla’s Cybertruck designed in October 2020 that sold for $35,000, RTFKT (pronounced “artefact”) is the digital sneaker house inspired by gaming and the digital world. Founded in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the team behind RTFKT makes use of Blockchain technologies and Non-fungible tokens to make every digital sneaker purchase unique and easy to track throughout various virtual worlds.
Where to shop: rtfkt.com
Why them: Digital clothes are already fashion-forward, but Tribute takes it to the next level with their cyber punk pieces that are totally out of this world. The designs heavily feature reflective outfits in neon green, purple and black. If you're looking for skin-tight plastic dresses (without the squeeze) and garments that look like they belong in Tokyo in the Year 2900, pay Tribute a visit.
Where to shop: tribute-brand.com
Why them: With full outfits starting from as low as $14, Replicant takes the cake when it comes to affordability. Having snagged collaborations with the likes of Puma and Italian bridal gown designer Alon Livne, this digital fashion house is a great place to get started on digital fashion without breaking the bank.
Where to shop: en.replicant.fashion
Why them: While founder Subham Jaim is currently based in India, his designers come from all ends of the globe. XR Couture produces a multitude of fantastical pieces to choose from, from glass sneakers to mythical mermaid gowns. On top of that, as one of the pioneers of digital fashion, he’s keenly aware of the challenges designers face when designing digitally. The solution? An open and collaborative approach that welcomes emerging designers and guides them along to sell on the platform. For those who love digital pieces and want to start creating their own, this is the place to be.
Where to shop: xrcouture.com
This article is adapted from the final-year feature writing project, Tailored For The Future, by Jacinth Chia and Nicole Fong from the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information at Nanyang Technological University