meta launches 'meta avatars store' to dress up avatars with prada, balenciaga & thom browne

Meta Avatars Store to dress up avatars with luxury brands

Meta launches Meta Avatars Store for users who want to dress up their avatars with high-fashion, luxury brands such as Balenciaga, Prada, and Thom Browne along with its existing free outfit options. Mark Zuckerberg and Meta’s Vice President of Fashion Partnerships Eva Chen introduced the launch of the avatars store which will be made available on Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger. Their similar Instagram post writes that digital goods will be an important way to express oneself in the metaverse and a big driver of the creative economy, a seemingly collective thought of the duo.

They let their audience into their plans of adding more brands and bringing the concept to Virtual and Augmented Reality soon. The Meta team says they know how many of its users want to more fully represent themselves and their interests by decking out their avatars with clothing from some of the world’s leading brands. They have mentioned that commerce helps drive culture throughout the world, and the metaverse feigns no difference. The team expresses their excitement that creators and brands are experimenting with digital clothing and shopping via this new canvas.

images from Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, and Eva Chen

Zuckerberg and Chen on Meta Avatars Store

Hopping on an Instagram Live on June 17th, Zuckerberg and Chen discussed their vision for avatars and the metaverse, as well as the opportunity the features may unlock for brands and businesses. At one point, Chen showed Zuckerberg what he looked like dressed up in a Balenciaga Motorcross outfit, raising his revamped Avatar on screen, printed on a sheet of paper. ‘I think the only question is am I cool enough to wear it?’ asks Zuckerberg in the video, who also posted the launch on Facebook, writing ‘Eva Chen and I tried out some of the new looks from Balenciaga, Prada, and Thom Browne – a change of pace from my terrycloth sweater.’

Users have commented on Chen’s Instagram post to convey their sentiments on the new update. One user writes that the launch seems so tone-deaf with everything going on in the world, garnering 450 likes at the time of publishing this story, while another user comments ‘Nah. We’re good.’ with 417 likes. Another user could not help, but express their disappointment with Chen. ‘I was hoping you would make a change. Instead, you are just like him,’ they write. The top comments on Chen’s Instagram post seem to brim with such comments, yet the Meta team still invites users to ‘be uniquely you’ with the new feature.

meta launches meta avatars store to dress up avatars with high-fashion, luxury brands

Meta and its beliefs on digital personalities

Meta writes that they want to enable everyone to present the best version of themselves, a driver for the team to create an option of customizing avatars with a wide variety of free outfits and accessories. ‘Feel like giving yourself blue hair today, trying out new makeup, or sporting a suit for a professional look? No problem — you can customize your avatar anytime you want to suit your mood. In fact, with more than a quintillion combinations of free avatar options already available, your choices will almost certainly be uniquely yours,’ the team writes. They believe that the users’ avatar reflects their digital personalities, conveying how much of an extrovert or introvert they are, their sense of humor, and even fashion sense.

Meta believes the feature lets people be their authentic selves online, and that in turn can help them connect more meaningfully with their friends, family, coworkers, or anyone else they meet on the road to the metaverse. The team even shares that they know people often want to change their look, whether in the real world or in digital spaces. ‘One way we’ll make that evolution easier is by continually offering new options that reflect the latest sartorial trends and expanding to offer more outfits from fashion, sports, and lifestyle brands over time.’

meta believes dressing up avatars with luxury brands reflects digital personalities