A Gucci bag for your Roblox avatar: digital collaboration a crossover between metaverse and the real world

In May, Roblox users could spend US$1.20-US$9 on limited-edition accessories. The digital ‘Dionysus Bag with Bee’ now exceeds the price of its real counterpart

Similarly, the IMVU metaverse has launched a marketplace with digital fashion as wearable NFTs for avatars on the social platform – bids opened at US$100

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A collaboration between luxury fashion house Gucci and online platform Roblox represents a new era of virtual-real world interplay. Photo: AP

Published: 8:15pm, 13 Jun 2021Updated: 11:43am, 17 Nov 2021

Anyone whose virtual alter ego is wandering around the Roblox online game platform these days might run into other avatars sporting Gucci handbags, sunglasses or hats.

The digital-only items were part of a limited Gucci collection for Roblox, a step by the fashion house that prides itself on Italian craftsmanship to enter an expanding virtual space where many of its youngest admirers already are at home.

Players in the metaverse – where virtual worlds, augmented reality and the internet meet – say the big-name fashion collaboration represents a new era of virtual-real world interplay, a space in which smart product placement meets the desire of consumers to express their personalities in the virtual world.

While the Gucci Garden space on Roblox was open for two weeks in May, the platform’s 42 million users could spend from US$1.20 to US$9 on collectable and limited-edition Gucci accessories.

A Gucci store at the Paragon Shopping Centre on Orchard Road in Singapore. Photo: Bloomberg

Items were hidden in the virtual Gucci Garden, which echoed real-world Gucci Garden exhibitions in Florence and other global cities. Some items were offered for free, and the exclusivity was underlined with limited time releases.