Has Fashion Found A New Home in Animal Crossing?
Korean Influencer Cheristyle wearing Coach
Image: Cheristyle
Nintendo’s hit game series Animal Crossings New Horizons broke sale records after its long awaited release on March 20 of this year. As in previous installments in the Animal Crossing series, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a nonlinear life simulation game played in real-time. The player assumes the role of a customizable character who moves to a deserted island after purchasing a deserted island package from Tom Nook, a tanuki character who is a staple of the series. The game allows the player to customize the appearance of their character at will, and does not lock specific hairstyles or facial features to specific genders.
During these unprecedented and uncertain times of COVID-19 fashion brands have crossed over to the Animal Crossing world as a way to engage with their fans. Popular Instagram accounts @crossingtherunway and @nookstreetmarket have made a name for themselves by collaborating with designers to create pieces from their most talked about collections and shows.
Popular instagram account @animalcrossingfashionarchive run by photographer Kara Chung, along with 032c’s stylist Marc Goehring, partnered with a Berlin based fashion company by the name of Reference Festival to create Animal Crossing’s first ever runway show. The show saw Animal Crossing player’s avatars wearing looks inspired by the likes of Loewe, Prada, and GmbH.
In May of this year online fashion publication Hypebae hosted their own Animal Crossing runway show that saw their special guests walk in their best customized outfits including previously mentioned @crossingtherunway, who walked in both a Bottega Veneta Fall/Winter 2019 outfit and a Prada Spring/Summer 2014 patchwork fur coat. Other noticeable guests included style star Tina Leung. According to Hypebae Leung’s avatar graced the runway in both a Nook Street Market’s Marjan Pejoski swan dress and a GCDS latex dress.
With the sudden rise of digital fashion shows on Animal Crossing it will be interesting to see how many emerging brands start focus on using it as a marketing platform. Will real life influencers be replaced by their Animal Crossing avatars? Only time will tell and we may get the answer to this question sooner than we think.
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Written by: Jourdie