Drest — the mobile fashion game inspired by the life of a fashion editor, launched by Lucy Yeomans in 2019 — is back after a six-month hiatus. It has a new co-CEO Daniel Svärd and a new focus on storytelling and socialisation as it aims to scale the concept of realistic-looking, magazine-like fashion styling challenges to a broader audience. Its new mission is “exclusive for all”, and the concept, says co-CEO Yeomans, the former top editor of Porter magazine and Harper’s Bazaar UK, is to democratise luxury fashion.
Drest’s gameplay is still centred on the concept of dressing life-like models in realistic-looking clothes through styling challenges set in global photoshoot locations. There are nine avatar models currently available that come in at least three different body types for each, with more planned. It’s free to play, but people can pay to upgrade with additional styles and uses of items. As people play, they can also advance to different job titles, borrowed from fashion magazine mastheads, from intern to junior fashion editor and so on. People can also now enter challenges more than once, and see results in three hours, rather than the original 24 hours.
The clothes are all digital renders of physical-world designs, created with the blessing of the more than 270 participating brands, which include Self-Portrait, Jacquemus, Alaïa, Prada and Christian Louboutin. Casablanca, Yeomans says, is “very hot” among players. People can click out to buy the physical versions of the items directly on the brands’ websites. (Drest used to enable e-commerce purchases through Farfetch, but that has changed since Farfetch’s acquisition by Coupang.) Yeomans calls the concept a “real-virtual-real entertainment experience”.
In addition to tweaks and updates to gameplay, it also has an entirely new tech stack, and is built on gaming engine Unity, which is the same used by Pokémon Go, among others. Yeomans says that the previous tech platform wasn’t easy to scale. The new version, launching today, will be available on both iOS and Android, which is a first. This is on the heels of a £15 million investment announced in June 2023 from the family office of Drest co-founder and co-chair Graham Edwards, who also previously invested. This brings the total raised to £45 million.
Drest 2.0 lands at an interesting time. When it launched, it was the first of its kind to try to bridge the gap between the booming gaming world and traditional fashion followers; Yeomans often shared that supermodel Kate Moss enjoyed playing it, with Drest brokering partnerships with Moss and other models including Precious Lee and Imaan Hammam to appear as dressable figures in the game. It also partnered with hairstylist Sam McKnight to provide model hairstyles, cosmetics brands Nars and Gucci Beauty, Flowerbx to provide the virtual flowers, and even the Wonder Woman film on promotional appearances and styling challenges. (Brands don’t need to pay to participate, and Drest makes money by selling digital upgrades to players, as well as through partnerships).
Its relaunch arrives against a different reality. Roblox and Fortnite are now far more recognised among fashion brands and boast a who’s-who of brand appearances and partners, such as Nike, Nars Cosmetics, Ralph Lauren, Coach and Gucci, who are coming to play in hopes of establishing affinity with the younger, aspirational customer. Styling challenge games are all the rage on Roblox, but the focus is less on imitating the aspirational life of an editor and more on seeding influencers within the organic community. Roblox is also most popular with those aged 24 or under, with more than half aged 16 or below, while Drest’s original mission was to appeal to a more mature fashion fan who grew up reading fashion magazines. Other standalone mobile styling games have also since launched, with the most notable being Tommy Hilfiger’s Fashionverse.
But the maturation of gaming could also be a tailwind. “Obviously, lots of brands are moving into the fashion and gaming space. We want to elevate that and attract a different audience,” Yeomans says. “A lot of the brands started going wide with their partnerships with big platforms, and now they want a more qualitative and qualified audience.”
Gaming has also now expanded beyond traditional games and into e-commerce. And many people who don’t identify as gamers in fact do occasionally play some type of game on their phone. “We’ve moved away from talking about gamers,” she says. “Women don’t perceive themselves as gamers, but they play games.”
For this week’s global relaunch, Versace is planning a narrative quest surrounding the launch of its Tag bag. Gameplay includes prompts to use specific colourways across a series of styling challenges, and as they go, they unlock exclusive pieces. Some people will even have the opportunity to win a physical version of the bag. In a statement, a Versace spokesperson credited Drest’s high in-game design quality and its positioning as a platform for creativity, experimentation and self-expression.
Drest will also be a partner to the British Fashion Council’s Fashion Awards and its nominated brands, in December; a handful of Drest players will ultimately be able to walk the physical red carpet. “This collaboration is a fun and innovative way to open the event to a wider global audience, spotlighting the incredible designers and creatives being celebrated this year,” says British Fashion Council CEO Caroline Rush.
Drest’s new pipeline continues to borrow from the physical fashion universe, extending to virtual branded experiences that are modelled after the types of lavish invitation-only influencer and editor trips that include hotel stays, often a fashion show, a private dinner and high-value gifts all in the name of brand-building and storytelling — think of Moncler’s recent Shanghai exposition, Jacquemus’s 2022 show in Hawaii or Chanel’s Métiers d’Arts showcase, which has spanned Mumbai to Manchester. People who complete the experience can then claim a digital extra, like a branded surfboard, similar to gifts given to guests at physical fashion events. “This is real-world fashion. There is nothing that we have that doesn’t exist in real life,” she says.
This concept was inspired by conversations Yeomans had with brands, who asked for something akin to a branded VIP event. She lights up when describing the magic of attending something like Chanel’s 2013 event in Dallas, Texas, where 900 guests were invited to enjoy a drive-in theatre and mechanical bulls, alongside a fashion show and dinner. “From the moment the invitation lands on your desk, to the plane and the drinks… after four days, you are a convert and you understand the brand and the DNA. You feel thoroughly spoiled and loyal,” Yeomans says, speaking of her editor days. “We challenged ourselves — can we do something within Drest that brings that to life?”
In preliminary tests, people tend to play the VIP events for two and a half hours, she says. “In an age when people are bemoaning a lack of attention spans, we are able to get their attention and keep it,” Yeomans says.
In a release, Svärd, who was previously general manager of popular game Candy Crush Saga, said: “We are at a moment in time where the way information is consumed is drastically changing. From passive observers, people want to become active participants. They want to co-create content and feel that they belong to a community.” He adds that this further enables brand partners to “establish reciprocal and authentic connections with their audiences”.
Drest is also adding more of a socialisation element, in which there are leader boards that refresh every week, and people can follow others and share their work, in addition to other planned features and activities. She wants to see it less as a game and more as participatory entertainment. This reflects a wider industry shift, in which Roblox is now calling itself a metaverse platform and many marketers now see it as the next generation’s approach to social media.
Yeomans sees more opportunities for storytelling in partnership with brands, and the promise to connect them with luxury consumers. The new version has already been tested in regions including Norway, Malaysia and Romania, and the number of average daily sessions has doubled. Campaign videos tied to physical fashion campaigns see an 87 per cent watch-through rate, via a concept called “watch to earn”, in which players win Drest dollars. Drest is planning a marketing push later in the new year and has kept all previous brand partners.
Yeomans is excited for an upcoming series of monthly themed events, curated by its editorial team, such as “country escape” or one inspired by the style of photographer Helmut Newton — an approach that harkens back to the shoppable magazine concept. That’s the goal, she says. “I almost feel like I have my monthly magazine back.”
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