manager_1 Virtual fashion is becoming more prominent in the media and on social media. Are these virtual clothes the future fashion? Where can you find them? We looked at The Fabricant’s latest collection to find out.
The Fabricant announced RenaiXance, a limited-edition digital clothing line in collaboration with RTFKT on its social media networks on April 16. The Dematerialized is an online marketplace for authentication created by Karinna Nobbs, Marjorie Hernandez and launched the drop. RenaiXance sold out in ten minutes.
The collection could be purchased using Ethereum (ETH), which is a cryptocurrency that can be used to buy jewellery. Prices for the complete look were limited to just one copy and ranged from 0.1 ETH (about 325) to $5 ETH (about 16,294 Euros).
The Fabricant, a pioneer in the new virtual fashion market, sold its first digital couture gown at an auction in New York. It was purchased for 9,500 US Dollars (more than 8,300 euro).
The RenaiXance Collection is inspired by 16th-century Renaissance. It combines inspiration from video games to create seven distinct outfits.
The code was given to the buyers to allow them to transfer their digital clothes to virtual reality social media platforms like VRChat or Sansar.
According to Mode in Textile, all pieces have a “digital center of gravity”. This allows garments to drape fluidly and has a fall that is similar to physical clothes.
RenaiXance: A collection that explores ‘our beautiful human complexity.’
The Fabricant blogs about the many expression possibilities that virtual fashion affords, and compares it to the physical world and its fashion, which it finds more restrictive.
The company states that RenaiXance, like the original word, means to rebirth. This is a reference to the fact we can reincarnate time and again in the digital age, changing daily to express multiple selves.
Fabricant focuses on gender and technology’s potential to explore “our beautiful human complex”. This topic is reflected in RenaiXance’s X in its name. “X is also a foundational presence in the human condition: every one of us has the Xchromosome regardless of gender. The company states that it is the genetic thread which unites us. It sits appropriately central in the word RenaiXance and suggests movement in any direction.”
Fabricant takes it a step further by making the digital collection presentation look like a manifesto. It allows the buyer to escape from their physical reality and offers them the chance to be free from traditional masculinity. It states that men throughout history have been required to use masculine symbology in order to conceal their vulnerability or were persecuted for crossing the invisible lines of what was considered gender-appropriate behavior.
RenaiXance is RTFKT x the Fabricant’s vision of what we could create if we reimagine possibilities. What if historical signifiers for femininity were replaced by those for masculinity? And what new expressive possibilities does that give us?
The expressive power of clothing is multiplied in this way. The Fabricant claims that the RenaiXance virtual line allows for the rejection and acceptance of conformist physical structures. It also calls on its customers to “finally be what we have always been able to be.”
The Fabricant launched another drop earlier this month. This time, it was based on The Fabricant’s belief that digital fashion can allow us to free ourselves from the constraints of the physical world. The collection is called Re-veil and consists of three virtual headpieces.
The Fabricant stated that the collection focuses on a digital environment, which is a place where the “boundaries and limitations of the physical universe are removed, allowing more fluid, fluid, and creative self-expression.”
