Leanne Elliot – Young
Co-founder & CEO Institute of Digital Fashion (IoDF)
We are creating a new vocabulary for fashion’s metaverse futures
Forging the future of digital discourse, the Institute of Digital Fashion (IoDF) creates digital solutions, digital strategies, digital humans, digital clothes and digital environments. IoDF Co-founder & CEO Leanne Elliot – Young speaks to Fibre2Fashion about the institute’s purpose and how fashion industry can move towards a sustainable future.
What is digital fashion? Who buys and wears it?
Due to its inclusivity and the constant need to push and break down barriers, digital fashion is more sustainable than anything that has come before. We’re all pivoting into this new arena and waiting for fashion to catch up, to when wearables are an everyday feature. Digital fashion is about more than just animation – it can do more than that, and we’re building a realm of possibilities with inclusivity and innovation at its forefront.
The semantics of fashion have changed forever, IRL x URL realities are now working in unison, and anyone can engage with the digital arena. Users across the globe are now able to wear digital fashion, shop digital fashion and trade digital fashion.
For digital fashion to reach the mainstream further, brands need to better understand the metaverse and how to utilise social platforms to push digital fashion to the masses through AR, VR, NFTs and this is what we are pushing at IoDF.
Who all are your clients? What do they buy/subscribe to?
We work with global brands. All of our clients share the same values and wish to further democratise the fashion industry through innovation, creativity, and ultimately inclusivity. We are here to provide 360-degree solutions for brands, and help them step into the metaverse, dipping their feet into digital waters one step at a time, to help them grow and push for further innovation in this new arena organically.
What transformation do you foresee in the fashion industry over the next decade? How does IoDF plan to lead this change in global fashion industry?
We have a responsibility to reconcile fashion’s past and build a new inclusive future. Brands should ask themselves, where is digital representation going? We want to shift characterisation into representation and believe that IRL and URL should work in unison; digital fashion. IoDF’s work is not negating the physical landscape but simply supporting it and developing it to work IRL x URL for a more sustainable future landscape.
Are ‘digital fashion’ and ‘virtual fashion’ the same? Can both be spotted in the metaverse?
Thanks to the metaverse, everyone can sit in the front row of virtual shows and engage with brands in this new space – digital/virtual fashion provides a form of not on escapism, but a new way to connect within this space. Digital fashion is not about trying to imitate the feeling of the IRL fashion world, but it is rather building a connection between the two. It is about exploring a vast number of creative possibilities that are unique; encouraging new ways of engaging with the industry and exploring ways through which we can create a community that is much more inclusive.
How does technology help the fashion industry to move towards a more democratic and sustainable future?
Tech can help re-conceptualise new futures through strategy, marketing, design, and retail. There needs to be seamlessness in tech which we are all waiting for. We work very closely with tech partners and software companies to develop and grow this industry to become more inclusive. We all need to work together collectively in order to shift the industry to more sustainable and inclusive futures.
Technology provides the tools to support the industry in entering this space. Generally, more brands need to listen to the experts in the field to better understand the possibilities in this new landscape, trusting knowledge and insights; not the old systems. This trust will mean a seismic shift, but the industry is a big beast and we’re here to help it grow.
Does IoDF focus only on the digital aspect of fashion, or it also seeks to translate the digital creation into a real piece?
At IoDF, in all the projects we deliver, we aim to make digital fashion easier to understand, and access – delivering immersive realities into the hands and homes of consumers. Digital fashion is not about imitating a real-life experience; it is shaping the perfect setting for the activation to reach its greatest potential. Digital allows anything to happen, one only needs to imagine it. At IoDF, we are building a new inclusive, diverse and sustainable IRL x URL reality, getting the best of both worlds.
The metaverse merges the real and the virtual world. Where does IoDF stand in this context?
There is an obvious need for those two to work in unison, so we are the bridge between the industry, those that are using the tools and the developers of those tools—the software companies. With our glocal networks of makers and artists, we have the ability to collectively change the system, and amplify new messaging to build a more innovative, diverse and inclusive metaverse.
How is IoDF different from the other fashion institutes? Can you tell us a bit more about your team?
At IoDF, we are creating a new vocabulary for fashion’s metaverse futures. We deliver world-class immersive digital solutions, strategies and innovations that push for a more inclusive, sustainable and diverse IRL x URL reality.
This is executed via AR, VR, UX, NFTs, digital try-ons, research papers and metaverse consultancy. What separates our work is the fact we are taking the wider industry beyond its comfort zones, building 360-degree world solutions.
Noted as the global leaders in digital fabrication, IRL x URL experiences, clothing, avatar, environments, diverse digital representation and immersive VR, AR and WebXR, IoDF was born to push tech-use toward a more democratic and sustainable future. All of our work aims to re-shape the way we experience, touch and consume fashion. We see the metaverse as a vehicle for making a more inclusive and representative industry and this is reflective in our core team and glocal network that we work with. We all share the same values and that is integral to being a part of IoDF.
What is IoDF’s business model?
A key part of IoDF is building narratives and storytelling – part of a buoyant business model that carefully considers fashion transitions into the metaverse 360. Inclusivity and diversity are the backbone of what we do here, we’re taking on the responsibilities of this space: This involves supporting the makers – creating an infrastructure that isn’t using unpaid internships or ‘working for accolades’ as well as showcasing that craft and artisan exists within digital making.
Do you expect all future fashion weeks to be held in the metaverse? Why/why not?
Traditionally, IRL fashion experiences (e.g., shows) are only available to a very elitist demographic, however, our activations blur the lines between the physical and the digital, IRL x URL and make it more accessible to the masses; it’s the culture of now and future of our industry. We cannot expect all fashion shows to be held in the metaverse, but it’s clear that more and more brands are trying to utilise the great potential of the metaverse – so we’ll see!
Any other thing that you would like to add?
At IoDF, we are keen to harvest the potential for digital spaces to be even more inclusive than those which already exist IRL (in real life). We are seeking to activate change and propel digital diversity to ensure all underrepresented communities in the physical world are not left behind in the digital world. In 2021, we released our first white paper on Diversity + Inclusivity in virtual worlds, a global study of 6,000 people aiming to better understand inclusivity in the metaverse. We want to push this landscape forward and be as inclusive as possible.
Published on: 30/03/2022
DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.
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