Metaverse fashion show held in Korea

The Ministry on Trade, Industry and Energy on Wednesday hosted the “2022 Meta Fashion Showcase” event in Gangnam District, southern Seoul.

Models showcase clothes created in a digital fashion project backed by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy during the 2022 Meta Fashion Show held in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, Wednesday. [NEWS1]

The government held a fashion show with "meta fashion" clothes, made based on digital clothes designed for the metaverse.

The Ministry on Trade, Industry and Energy on Wednesday hosted the “2022 Meta Fashion Showcase” event in Gangnam District, southern Seoul.

The event was the first of its kind in Korea.

The ministry expects the digital fashion for metaverse, or so-called meta fashion, to be the next big thing for the textile industry.

Meta fashion items are virtual clothes that can be worn in digital space or through augmented reality technology. Demand for digital fashion may reach $55 billion worldwide by 2030, according to Morgan Stanley.

While most digital fashion so far has been an online replication of real clothing, meta fashion designs presented during the Wednesday event were created and worn in the digital environment, which allowed them to be based on materials and fabrics that cannot be recreated in reality.

“The textile industry is expanding beyond traditional manufacturing and into the services and content,” said Joo Young-joon, deputy minister for the office of industrial policy.

“Though there have been setbacks caused by the recent economic slowdown and issues surrounding the metaverse-related technologies, it is clear that our reality will co-exist with the digital world in the future,” said Joo.

Thirty digital clothing items created by three Korean fashion designers — Ko Tae-yong, Hwang Lee-sle, and Kim Bo-min — were showcased both in video footage and on the runway during the event.

Virtual clothes such as a dragon-skin leather coat and a jacket with metallic luster were presented on the screens.

Of the 30 designs, nine were created as real clothing, and presented on the runway by models.

The ministry also digitalized 10 designs selected through K-Fashion Audition and showcased them through video and also on the runway.

The meta fashion items introduced during the Wednesday event will be uploaded on KT’s “Meta Closet” app, a digital fashion service.

Meta Closet, which is currently on a test run, was developed with CLO Virtual Fashion, a fashion design software company.

“The textile and fashion industry is also on a digital transformation trend,” said Choi Jeong-seok, head of KT’s Meta Closet team.

“Digital transformation will shorten the manufacturing process, and improve the efficiency in communication during the designing stage.”

Users will be able to try on the clothes presented at the 2022 Meta Fashion Show through the app’s virtual fitting. KT added that designers will be able to create and sell digital clothes on the app starting the second quarter next year

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]