Virtual style with real impact is drawing designers in
'Wow, I never took you for such a gamer,' my husband remarked as he glanced over my shoulder one night while we were in bed. In the doomscroll pose, supine with phone to face, I was rather happily ensconced in the world of Drest, a fashion mobile game created by former editor-in-chief at both Harper's Bazaar UK and Porter magazine, Lucy Yeomans.
The app prompts users with virtual styling challenges – something like, 'dress rapper Cardi B in a look inspired by her green makeup at this year's Met Gala' – that are rated by other uses to earn you credits to put toward future projects and steps up the stylist hierarchy (a few weeks in, I'm almost about to be promoted to 'Styling Assistant').
My husband was right because I'd never taken myself for a gamer either. While I was born in the 1980s, I never much cared for them, nor had a Nintendo or Sega system of my own. I played Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego and other computer games but those were appealing because I enjoy trivia and strategy. Since then, I haven't crushed any candy and I don't warm myself up for the day with a Wordle.
I'd simply never heard of a game that appealed to me, until Drest. Yeomans was in the same boat. 'Someone invited me to play a game on Facebook years ago, and I found the whole thing quite compelling,' she says of Drest's origins. 'I thought, this is so good, but I'm not interested in any of these subjects.'
From there, Yeomans struck out to devise a fashion gaming model based on a 'real-virtual-real' dynamic. The first real is that all the items used in the game's styling challenges – Erdem Moralioglu's decadent gowns; Prada's latest leatherwear; goods from mass brands such as Reformation and Diesel; and finery from emerging labels like the jewellery company Completedworks – exist as real-life products. The game's challenge briefs are based on the pop culture personalities and sartorial trends fashion fans want to tap into right now, anything from Celine Dion's suiting preferences to basketball player Angel Reese's penchant for wearing all-black-everything.
The virtual comes in with the models users dress, avatars that Drest's team develops in partnership with the non-profit Fashion Minority Alliance to ensure as much diversity as possible in terms of ethnicity and size. Perhaps most tantalizingly for an actual stylist like me, instead of relying on real budgets to ensure the most coveted garments and accessories arrive for a photo shoot or red-carpet event, Drest's currencies range from Drest dollars to style credits – all of which can be purchased or acquired by completing challenges.
The final real is that Drest features challenges with real life prizes – a Pandora-sponsored challenge last year came with the reward of attending the British Fashion Awards. The game also has a shoppable element. If a player likes the current season knitted Alaia coat they used in a challenge (which goes for $16,940 on ssense.com), they can click over to purchase it outside the app.
All virtual stylists aside, Drest is gaining traction in the fashion industry. At the last British Fashion Awards in December, Yeomans recalls a moment that crystalized how virtual fashion gaming can give real fashion designers insight into new creative directions.
'A couple of designers came up to me and said they were obsessed with the game,' she says. 'They love seeing how players are styling their collections and are fascinated by seeing how people interpret their brand.' This, in addition to information gathered from player demographics, sponsored challenges and user anecdotes – Yeomans mentions a makeup artist who recently divulged that, since she'd used the same khaki J.W. Anderson jacket in dozens of challenges, she had decided to buy the real version – makes it fertile ground for brand development.
I find it curious that I enjoy playing a game based on the concept of my profession as much as I do. But its appeal goes beyond the fact I can style with my wildest imagination because I don't have to worry about an outfit getting stuck at the border or a competing magazine calling dibs on the look I want.
The allure of Drest lies in how the platform affords users accessibility to garments and accessories without it feeling as transactional. We all know how essential dressing is to self-expression, and a platform like this provides a near carte blanche capability for engaging with fashion without having to think about consumption. It can be just as satisfying as retail therapy, but without the same actual costs.
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