Following the showcase of designer Victor Weinsant’s latest fashion collection in the Marais district of Paris, there was the typical post-show scrum you’d find at any Paris Fashion Week event. Photographers are taking street style photos, smoking lots of cigarettes and exchanging gossip.

But the basement room two floors down, with all the lights off, was something entirely different. A series of glass cases displaying 3D holograms of apparel that exist only in digital form.

These designs are the result of collaborations with the designer’s renowned Weinsanto brand, Korean pop group Lightsum, and virtual fashion company BNV.

Called the M3talove collection, the eight virtual looks were created in-house at BNV using digital 3D tailoring techniques. Each reflects the personality of a different member of his K-pop band.

The costume looks like something you could wear on stage, with a little pop of glamor, black feather trim here, or a beaded hem. Texture is always preserved. The manner in which the band members’ silver doll-like avatars were presented lured viewers with the urge to play a game of dress-up.

And fans will be able to do just that once the design is released as an Ethereum NFT for sale on the BNV website. But before that, it was important to BNV founder and CEO Richard Hobbs to host a real-world event that connects the physical fashion experience to the rapidly expanding digital world.

“Whatever happens in the Metaverse has to be relevant to people’s real lives,” he said. Decryption.

To that end, NFTs come with a variety of digital and real-world advantages.At the event itself, attendees were asked to share her BNV and Decryption.

“It’s about experience,” said Hobbes. “That’s what people want these days.”

blur the line

The M3talove collection debuted at a preview and cocktail party shortly after Wainsant’s official Paris Fashion Week show. It’s also not the only time his Web3 has appeared on the show this season. Boad Ape Yacht Club When Cryptopunks catwalk avatar At Vivienne Tam’s recent show in New York.

Like many, Hobbs sees Paris as the ideal location for a digital fashion event. Increased crypto activity and the city’s glorious fashion history.

“It’s a combination of fashion and technology,” he said. “This is the home of fashion, and symbiotic things are happening here.”

The way the traditional high fashion industry has embraced Web3 This is in contrast to the slow adoption of online shopping in the 2000s. Hobbs suggests that Web3’s ownership element is also a good fit for high-value items, as NFTs can reflect the rarity of real-life designer products within the digital space.

Another advantage of creating fashion for the metaverse is that you can leave it up to your imagination. This allows designers to explore apparel and accessories that are physically impossible.

“Creating a look in the metaverse offers great design opportunities to express yourself in a whole new way,” said Weinsanto at the debut of the M3talove collection.

Even at Weinsanto’s actual show, there were hints of designers looking to push the boundaries of what clothing could be. The models wore headpieces that were too large for the door frame and skirts that were too wide for the aisle. The creator’s vision is literally larger than life, and he aligns well with one of the ways advocates of digital fashion say this medium creates new opportunities for designers.

According to Hobbs, BNV is working to create a digital fashion future with space for virtual designers as well as stylists, editors and many other traditional fashion professionals. But for digital fashion to reach its full potential, he said, it needs more awareness in the coming years. That’s why crossover events like this are so important.

“We are taking many routes to get more people into digital fashion and the potential that Web3 can offer,” said Hobbs. “It would make people think, ‘OK, that’s not what I thought.’ ”