How the metaverse will revolutionize the world of beauty

Let’s do a vocabulary point. What is the metaverse and what will it bring us? Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook, renamed Meta, summarizes the concept: “A construction of virtual reality intended to supplant the Internet, to merge virtual life with real life, and create endless new playgrounds for everyone – you can do almost anything you imagine. » From the brands’ point of view, this means developing new forms of communication and allowing consumers to shop differently.

From March 24 to 27, the first Metaverse Fashion Week was held, via the Decentraland platform. The clothes presented were not a virtual version of what can then be bought in stores, but real digital creations, called wearables, intended to dress an avatar. The metaverse is indeed not a representation of reality but a world in itself, an immersive environment in which we walk thanks to its virtual twin. Many fashion brands already occupy this ground.

Metavers: a new way of consuming

Today, it’s beauty’s turn to rush in and it’s much more than a gadget effect. “In the context of the current crisis, the industries that are doing well are luxury, with fashion and beauty, and video games, which are exploding. It makes perfect sense for these sectors that are still generating wealth to come together. It is estimated that in 2030 the metaverse will weigh up to 10% of the luxury business”, underlines Eric Briones, co-founder of the Paris School of Luxury, author of Luxe & Digital. The new territories of luxury. 2nd edition (Dunod). To be precise, this concerns the metaverse, a virtual world directly derived from video games, and NFTs, Non Fungible Tokens, non-fungible objects, that is to say unique and non-interchangeable objects. Concretely, these are digital files with certificate of authenticity, stored on a blockchain. A new type of consumable item.

Metavers: A New Reality

In the metaverse, you dress, make up and perfume your avatar, as you do at home in the morning. This may seem strange to a large part of the population, but for the younger generations (Gen Z and Gen Alpha) and gamers (video game enthusiasts), this virtual double occupies a very important place and imposes itself as an extension of their personality. “They spend a lot on their avatar, to set it apart from others. Some even feel more real through him than in real life. Studies show that it helps young people to discover themselves and to feel better, to assume differences, skin diseases for example », comments Eric Briones. We understand that makeup is a perfect tool for shaping another self and that brands have everything to gain by occupying the field.

Metaverse: towards the beauty of the future?

The Makeup label, for example, pushes the concept quite far: lhe brand sells makeup for avatars on the metaverse, which the consumer can also use on her own photo via social networks. “We can see how interesting this can become for brands. They launch collections, market them first on the web, then they can offer the real version in stores. The metaverse is an evolution of social networks », explains Eric Briones. Among the initiatives noticed, Dior has joined the Zepeto platform to offer 9 virtual looks imagined by Peter Philips, the creative director of make-up. It is possible to buy them to make up your avatar. For its part, Gucci has teamed up with Animal Crossing and his game new horizons to create the GG Island, inspired by the Gucci Guilty fragrance campaign. It is an avatar of actor Jared Leto who welcomes visitors and pilots them to this island where you can play and consume products.

The American makeup brand Too Faced has inaugurated its Virtual House, in which you create your digital double to have access to games, obtain discount coupons, buy your favorite products. You can also meet the avatars of your friends there. An immersive experience that inevitably makes classic e-commerce outdated. In the same spirit, Givenchy inaugurated its Beauty House, accessible via the games platform Roblox, while make-up artist Charlotte Tilbury has decided to dust off the online shopping and advice experience by launching her 3D avatar and virtual store to interact with her customers, wherever they are. Today, metaverses still have a very “childish” style, but soon will emerge much more photo-realistic things that will be able to appeal even more to luxury and address more targets.

Text Claire Dhouailly

Photo credits: Billie Thomassin