10 STYLE

International Herald Tribune *

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Dressing up in virtual worlds

An image of a
virtual H & M
store with an
avatar wearing a
graphic print
dress which is
also available in
brick-and-mortar
H & M shops.

Above, a back and

front view of the
winning “Party
Time” white and gold
asymmetrical dress
designed by Salix
Tree. At right,
backstage at a
virtual runway show
where an avatar is
seen wearing a
variation of a striped
dress seen below
that is available
in H & M stores.

H & M images Courtesy of Electronic Arts

Right, the red, white and black zigzag top

designed by StarChildXenu for the ‘‘Skate
Park’’’competition and a menswear entry
by MagicJarII for the ‘‘Party Time’’
contest. Below, a cover of the popular,
virtual magazine Second Style.

Fashion giants
venture into online
realms where
creativity is king

By Jessica Michault But that is only the tip of the iceberg said StarChildXenu who also had an Trollop in an e-mailed inter-

T
of this partnership. Members can also outfit on the runway in the “Party view, as anonymity is a key
he world is not enough for the build their own virtual H & M store in Time” competition. ‘‘I enjoyed this element in virtual living.
global fashion community. The Sims 2 world. Another ground- contest, it was really fun thinking up At the moment there are
The industry has now set its breaking element of this joint venture and making these outfits.” no well-known upscale
sights on the virtual realms is the virtual runway competition. Us- Blurring the line between the real fashion labels that are
of online communities like The Sims 2 ing the basic 60 digital clothing world and its virtual counterpart even working in Second Life.
and Second Life which have become designs furnished by H & M, members further, H & M has agreed to produce But that hasn’t kept vir-
the latest and possibly the most inno- have built their own original creations one of the winning six outfits featured tual fashion designers
vative playgrounds for budding fash- hoping to make the final cut to see in the Grand Finale Fashion Runway from creating intric-
ion designers and well established their outfits on the virtual runway. Showcase in its factories and sell it in ate homages to fa-
brands. Forget ‘‘Project Runway,” and Game members from all over the its retail stores. vorite fashion de-
start thinking virtual runway. globe are competing in six design In the virtual world of Second Life, signers. ‘‘In-
Major fashion corporations around themes (Party Time, Skate Park, Street with its more than eight million mem- world,’’ a term
the globe are now scrambling to tap Wear, Night Out, Let’s Go to the Beach bers worldwide, fashion is a serious used for logging
into this nascent market where cre- and Red Carpet). The 12 top designs business, with online designs for into Second
ativity is king. One of the first fashion will take part in a virtual runway avatars generating hard currency for its Life, fashion Below, the real-life
brands to take on the virtual world in competition. Two winners have users. There are even some real-life house Paper and second-life
earnest is the retail giant H & M. already been crowned: Salix Tree, cosmetics and apparel companies that Couture came versions of a Russian
In The Sims 2, the world’s most who won the “Party Time” runway have sold virtual items in Second Life. up with a ballerina outfit by
popular PC game, avatars (a person’s show with her white and gold asym- They include big name brands like Ree- breathtaking gown for Nyla (houseofnyla.
virtual identity) can now dress in this metrical dress and SI Tigerbabe, who bok, Aveda, American Apparel, Union some lucky avatar, inspired com). Left, a virtual
season’s spring-summer collection came in first in the ‘‘Skate Park’’ con- Bay and Adidas, while companies like by a spring/summer 2007 haute close up of a Haute
from H & M. These outfits are also test with a street savvy creation pair- Lacoste and L’Oréal have dipped a toe couture gown by Christian Lacroix. Couture gown from
available in the brand’s real brick-and- ing a bejeweled top with dark denim into the virtual world by doing some The Canadian fashion designer Nyla Christian Lacroix
mortar stores around the world, jeans and a fitted two toned jacket. branding activities in Second Life. has taken her real-world creations and and its inspiration.
thereby making it possible for mem- This week voting is taking place to Second Life has its own successful morphed them into Second Life en- Bottom, a virtual self
bers of the game to wear the same determine the winner of the “Street virtual glossy magazine called Second sembles. This way shoppers can “try portrait of Digital
clothing in real life that their avatar is Wear” runway show at http://fashion- Style. on” an outfit on their avatar to see Francis.
wearing in the virtual Sims 2 world. runway.sims.yahoo.com/ or The publisher and editor in chief of how it looks before they purchase it
‘‘Marrying a fashion-forward com- www.TheSims2FashionRunway.com. the magazine, Celebrity Trollop, has for themselves in the real world. She
pany with a game and community rec- It is even possible to watch the created exceptional fashion spreads also recently recreated a dress worn
ognized around the world for their shows with the running commentary and insightful article for virtual fash- by a celebrity at Cannes in Second
user-generated content will allow of a fashion insider. Listen to Susan ion followers. ‘‘One of the major social Life (www.houseofnyla.com).
people to reflect their personalities Schutz, editor in chief of Cosmogirl de- activities in Second Life is shopping, ‘‘Second Life is what the Internet was
and express their creativity. We scribe the looks. One design she called and most Second Life residents love to in 1994,’’ said Digital Francis, a member
couldn’t imagine a more perfect ‘‘funky and different’’ and she com- experiment with clothing styles, colors of Second Life for eight
match,” says Steve Seabolt, a vice pres- pared to Missoni a black, white and red and shapes. Buying new outfits to months, in an e-mailed
ident at Electronic Arts, which has zigzag design by StarChildXenu for the show your friends is a common way interview. Francis, a
been producing The Sims 2 game. “Skate Park” show. ‘‘I did it my way,” avatars entertain each other,” says video producer in the
real world, has used his
virtual knowledge to
build prototypes of
CROSSWORD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 stores for prospective
fashion houses looking
Edited by Will Shortz 14 15 16 to go in-world. ‘‘It’s a
communication tool
17 18 19
ACROSS 30 Torment you might hear that’s in its infancy,’’
1 Liquor holder in 31 ___ in Show 20-, 25- and Digital Francis said.
(Westminster 42-Across 20 21 22
a coat pocket
prize) 54 Continent
‘‘It could act as a
6 Wonderment great ‘marketing’ tool
32 Temporary drop separator 23 24
9 Taxi sounds for many fashion
34 Subj. in drawing 55 Embargo Magazine cover, Second Style; at left, Lacroix real
14 Milk: Prefix
class 56 One of the 25 26 27 28 29 companies looking to version: Catwalking.com, Lacroix close up:
15 First word of Carpenters
every Robert
35 Cargo area solicit their wares and offer people in- Paper Couture. Above, real ballerina
36 Rick’s 57 Make joyous 30 31 32 33 formation about their brand. It would image: Wayne Hoecherl,
Ludlum title but and the virtual: Nyla Cheeky.
“Casablanca” 58 Israeli-invented
one
love gun also give players the ability to buy the
16 Extreme 34 35 36 real-life versions via hyper-links em-
37 Holiday ___ 59 Goaded, with
17 Ward off “on” bedded in the Second Life store,’’ he
38 Planning detail
18 Texas tea 60 Like notepaper
37 38 39 40 41
said. ‘‘But there is a certain culture
40 Gold standards
19 Sectors or subjects of a
42 “Yeah,
king
that needs to be understood first and
20 “Just like that!” 42 43 44
22 Electronic
wanna start
61 Fed. monitor of
foremost. A company can’t just come
somethin’?”
toll-collecting 45 War ender stock fraud 45 46 in-world and say ‘here we are’ buy our
system in the
46 Create, as a 62 Midterms and virtual and real-life stuff, and expect
Northeast finals the same success they have in the real
phrase 47 48 49 50 51 52 53
23 Walk in water DOWN world.’’
47 No-goodnik
24 In the past
50 “The Sopranos” 1 “Spare tire” 54 55 56 But selling to consumers via the vir-
25 “Not on your life!” clip? … or where 2 Content of some tual world is not the only reason fash-
cones 57 58 59 ion houses will be buying into online
Solution to August 6 puzzle 3 Nailed
universes. They can use it as a testing
E X C E L S E L M A B B C 4 Farmer’s 60 61 62
headwear ground for ideas and generate feed-
L E O X I A R O A R A O L back from avatars about fashion
5 Toiletries
F R E E Z E F R A M E N A E holders Puzzle by Daniel Kantor The New York Times designs before they go into production.
C A R E M A N D A T E 6 Made amends ‘‘Fashion in virtual worlds are made of
T O F U A S H B A I N E S (for) occupant: Abbr. 30 “Bali ___” 43 Timely news bulletin
U N I T A S A S E V A L E
pixels and those are very ephemeral
7 Henry Clay, 13 Snippiness 33 Good time, slangily 44 Like some sacred art
B A R E S O T T A W A S politically things,” said Celebrity Trollop. ‘‘In
21 Midmonth time 35 Frequent target of 47 Afrikaner
E N S T O S P A R E P
J S 8 Conger or 22 Grandson of Adam engine wear 48 Legal rights org.
Second Life I can make a garment that
T R A N S I T N O L
I E moray
24 Love, honor and ___ 36 Circus animal 49 Successful conclusion
was patterned with polka dots into one
P O S E N O N S T R I
V E 9 Army barber’s
25 Rear end enclosure of a negotiation that sports a trendy paisley with three
specialty
O C T A V O S S W I T
E M 26 Heavens: Prefix 38 Tarnished 50 Labyrinth mouse clicks. Plus, virtual worlds offer
10 Ran off to the
P A R R O T S C A T O marrying judge 27 Taken ___ (surprised) 39 Walk to and fro 51 Pieces of work? a huge potential for market research —
P S I T I N P A N A L L E Y 11 Italian source of 28 Religion with the Five 40 Old TV feature 52 Nair competitor should you buy a million dollars worth
E E K E C A R D L E A V E 2-Down Pillars 41 Start of an Ella 53 Conclusions of polka dots or paisley fabrics? Why
D Y E R E P O S C S P A N 12 White House 29 Small bite Fitzgerald standard 55 Vehicle with a route not test them both in Second Life — Courtesy of Digital Francis