League of Legends and Louis Vuitton. Nike, Playstation, and Xbox. A Bathing Ape and PUBG. Vans and Nintendo. Undefeated and Halo 5. Moschino and The Sims. Unlikely pairings that are taking over the separate but similar worlds of gaming and fashion. If you think about it, games and fashion both revolve around creative escapism and authentically expressing yourself. Two sides of the same coin. However, gaming has long been a neglected domain of society, resigned to scapegoats for mass shooting incidents and stereotypes of overweight men playing in the basements of their homes. No longer. Women, athletes, and musicians all enjoy the pleasures of gaming, and it looks like this is just getting started. Gaming is particularly interesting to fashion brands because it provides a new mode of storytelling that can interact with different people and showcases high levels of engagement rarely seen anywhere else. Which is arguably why two of the most popular and prestigious brands in their respective fields teamed up: Louis Vuitton (LV) and League of Legends (LoL). LV has a storied history of producing suitcases, leather goods, and ready-to-wear since 1854 while LoL is a relative newcomer that was established a decade ago. However, League of Legends is played by 185 million unique people and drew an impressive audience of 99.6 million for its World Championships held in South Korea, exceeding the total number of unique viewers for both the 2018 NBA Finals and 2018 MLB World Series.
For the upcoming Championship Finals in Paris on November 10, LoL and LV will release a special trophy travel case holding the Summoner’s Cup, similar to what LV did for the 2018 World Cup. Women’s Artistic Director Nicolas Ghesquière also designed Prestige skins for two characters, Senna and Qiyana, that are part of True Damage, a hip-hop group that is composed of actual artists. This is a shift from the past when League designed skins and then created a story to fit them into the universe, whereas now League’s stories set the tone for any visuals going forward. Qiyana’s skin will release the same day while Senna’s will release early next year. The skins will each retail for 1650 RP (Riot Points, named after the company that created the game, Riot Games). For those unfamiliar with the conversion between USD and RP, you can purchase 1380 RP for $10, 3500 RP for $25, and 7200 RP for $50. Considering the most exclusive skins in the game, called Ultimate Skins, fetch 3250 RP, the LV-designed skins are a little cheaper. LV will also release a capsule collection of apparel and accessories themed around the game. For this collection, you will need to start saving up now if you want an item because they will be priced similarly to other Louis Vuitton pieces.
This is far from Louis Vuitton’s first collaboration with a game; Final Fantasy XIII’s pink-haired female lead Lightning was the brand ambassador for the Series 4 Spring and Summer campaign directed by Ghesquière, joining the likes of Jennifer Connelly, Michelle Williams, and Alicia Vikander in modeling for the luxury house. Square Enix also dressed Lightning in Prada menswear for its Spring 2012 campaign despite the fact that Lightning is a female character and without any input from the clothing brand itself. On the men’s side, LV released a 16-bit retro game called Endless Runner referencing Men’s Artistic Director Virgil Abloh’s Fall/Winter 2019 show. This follows on the heels of Gucci adding arcade games to its app and Burberry launching an online video game called B Bounce. Hermès and Fendi have also experimented with games to reach a wider audience. Games are a way to make fashion more accessible without having to spend a lot of money for a particular piece. They are starting to realize that tapping into this virtual experience can yield real excitement and desire that can be partially fulfilled through a character’s wardrobe.
Much like sports teams, games and e-sports organizations have a lot to gain from the exposure provided by these brands. Likewise for the brands, players are introduced to them and later on could purchase entire outfits from collections. Nike was one of the first to recognize the appeal for their demographic and released the Air Force 2 Low EA Sports (2003), Air Force 1 Low Playstation (2006, 2009, 2018), Jordan 1 Mid Xbox E3 (2018), and the PG2 Playstation (2018). Although the original Playstation Air Force 1s and Jordan 1 Mids were extremely limited releases, the excitement around them highlighted the sneaker community’s interest in both shoes and gaming. This year, Nike partnered with NBA 2k20 to kickstart the NBA 2k20 x Nike Gamer Exclusive Program. Players will be given the opportunity to earn up to 10 pairs of virtual unreleased Nike Basketball shoes and then unlock them in real life through the SNKRS app. This program that combines gaming and sneakers is the first of its kind and we will likely see more companies pursue this model. For the launch of the Jordan 1 Defiant SB NYC to Paris and Jordan 1 Defiant SB LA to Chicago, Nike allowed players of Fortnite to scan a graphic in the game and redeem access to a pair of the coveted sneakers. Experimenting with augmented reality is something Nike has always done, and this offers something new to consumers while also combating “bots,” which are automated programs that resellers use to snap up limited products. Nike and the entire Chinese professional League of Legends league, Puma and Cloud9, adidas and Lyon EDG and Ninja, Champion and Dignitas, K-Swiss and Immortals, Kappa and Vexed Gaming are a sampling of the efforts by these athletic companies to capture the gaming market. As more and more athletic brands jump into the fray to stay relevant with celebrity endorsements and collaborations, it is clear that whoever is on top must treat professional gamers the same way they treat other professional athletes.
E-sports and gaming present huge opportunities for communicating with people that would normally not encounter these fashion brands. Compared to older generations, younger consumers are more comfortable with embracing gaming. This open-mindedness regarding these developments can mean it is not as risky for fashion companies to invest in games. Fashion and gaming have a lot to learn from each other, especially in terms of gaining relevancy in pop culture and strengthening ties within the gaming community to the fashion brands that dare to reach out and collaborate on in-game items. Incentivizing players to keep playing games could also be leveraged by brands as a viable strategy to convince players to shop their wares and foster brand loyalty for a long time. Beyond traditional social media channels and advertisements, gaming is just a continuation of these desires to consume other media as evidenced by the success of streaming platforms Twitch and Mixer along with content creators that host videos on those sites. Considering 2.3 billion people play games every day, the current gaming gold rush will probably continue for years to come with brands just scratching the surface in terms of the potential they can achieve.
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