To become a Vogue Business Member and receive the Technology Edit newsletter, click here.
Hollywood stylist Kate Young, whose clients include Dakota Johnson, Scarlett Johansson, Dior and Chanel, has signed on to style influencers of a different sort: Roblox, Zepeto and Second Life users, who don digital outfits across the virtual worlds.
Young has signed on to be a senior advisor to digital fashion house Blueberry, which makes digital fashion and accessories for these platforms, ranging from basic tees to trend pieces and fantastical items. It was started by Mishi McDuff, who began by designing for Second Life in 2012, and since then has sold more than 15 million items. It received $6 million in funding in December of last year to expand into new product categories and platforms.
Young is formalising her relationship with digital fashion as the field of celebrity styling has suffered a wave of setbacks. The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists strikes began this summer and lasted for four months, after only recently recovering from years-long Covid shutdowns. Actors were barred from promotional activities such as red carpets, press tours and magazine covers promoting new projects, meaning that the industries that rely on them — especially Hollywood stylists — were also out of work.
Young told Vogue Business in July that her upcoming month of “very full” work had all been erased. “I definitely have to find a way to keep busy,” Young said. “How am I going to fill my time? How am I still going to work?” The strikes ended in November, meaning that actors and stylists can return to business as usual. The impetus to diversify styling income remains.
At the same time, the metaverse fashion economy is expanding. Metaverse revenue is slated to reach $400 billion by 2030, up from $48 billion last year, says analytics firm Globaldata. More than half of Gen Z users are willing to spend up to $10 each month styling their avatar, according to a Roblox study. In 2022, fashion items on Second Life alone generated more than $12 million, according to the company; in the first nine months of this year, Roblox users purchased 1.65 billion digital fashion items, which is up 15 per cent compared to last year.
Young originally began working with Blueberry through a pilot programme that saw her providing input on various looks and pieces, says Blueberry’s chief creative officer Ashley Hopkins, who joined in 2020. She says that the value of bringing her on long-term became immediately apparent because her experience translated so well. “She was able to suggest how this jacket would go with this top in ways that maybe weren’t immediately obvious,” Hopkins says. Blueberry sells individual pieces as well as full looks. Hopkins says the option for players to buy an outfit styled by Kate Young is a big draw. Blueberry also works with 15 brand ambassadors whose avatars wear styled looks that are shared on social media.
Young’s influence on Blueberry expands beyond clothes. She also suggested that the models used to promote Second Life collections could be refreshed, Hopkins says, citing people such as Hailey Bieber as a reference point. “She thought changing the style of the model would elevate the brand to give a younger and fresher look. Having come from being emerged in the platform for so long, it wasn’t apparent to me,” Hopkins says. “The little details that she comes in and points out make a huge difference.”
Vogue Business sat down with Young to hear why digital fashion startup Blueberry captured her attention.
Vogue Business: How did you become interested in digital fashion?
I have two teenage kids and over the pandemic, they started hanging out on video games with all their friends and it became a virtual playground. They were spending all their money on skins, and then Balenciaga and Louis Vuitton did a few things. I got really curious about the future of this. It functions the way fashion does in the real world: it helps you find your tribe and express yourself without a lot of limitations. It’s hard to be a [physical fashion] designer, but [with digital design,] you might live in Kansas and never meet anyone who works in a creative space in fashion, and you can make stuff and you don t need a lot of money. You don’t need to find people to make it. And there are so many problems with fashion ecologically, and it’s kind of outside of that. So many of the limitations around fashion just don’t exist in this world — and I think that’s exciting.
Vogue Business: It’s a great point. If you re a designer and you want to use an expensive fabric in the physical world, it costs more, but that isn’t a limitation in digital design.
There are no limits. If you want to make pants made of fire, you can. Designers don’t have to create with certain body types or income brackets in mind — they can create collections that cater to diverse avatar shapes at much more accessible price points. They don’t have to worry about sourcing certain fabrics — they can test any fabric imaginable and see how it falls on multiple consumers. This expanded definition of ‘target customer’ and freedom from the limitations of a traditional supply chain could supercharge a wave of innovation and experimentation for designers.
Vogue Business: What is your role at Blueberry?
For the most part, we talk about trends. When they went into Roblox, it’s what the demographic is, what they’re wearing now and the colours, shapes, trends and where that is in pop culture, or a music trend or a movie or a vibe. So much of my job is to read the ether. Then we show specifics; it might be a photo from a magazine from 10 years ago, or a designer who had a great show in London. And I’m like, this is a great idea, and you could take this so much further. I’m more a creative person as opposed to the nuts and bolts of, ‘Make fire pants’.
Vogue Business: You mentioned your sons are on Roblox. Is that where you do a lot of your research?
Roblox is interesting because when we started with them, it was super blocky and they’ve changed a little bit and it’s getting more fashionable. I look at all the games they’re playing. I’m like, ‘What are the outfits? Let’s see the outfits.’ Fortnite outfits are really cool.
But their lives, it’s wild. They don’t text; they use Snap (Snapchat), and Snap is all filters. That’s what makes it fun. This is really a fascinating space because it’s not even the space of the future, it’s the space now for a younger generation. Roblox tends to skew much younger, and then Second Life tends to be much sexier. I always think of it as the party platform. It’s going out clothes. When you want to look hot, that’s where you go.
Vogue Business: [Blueberry’s chief creative officer] Ashley Hopkins said you referenced Hailey Bieber as an influence on the look and feel of avatars, beyond just the clothes.
She really represents that sort of aspirational look. She wears streetwear, but she wears sexy clothes, she wears real jewellery and she has perfect skin and that luxury side to her, and that is something I think really translates. Like most people don’t get to wear evening gowns and million-dollar rings and the latest sneakers when they’re being casual, and it’s very easy to do that in your online persona.
Vogue Business: Do you think that trends that are popular in the metaverse are going to ultimately influence the physical world?
Yeah, for sure. I think that’s absolutely true. The naked dressing trend, to me, came from the metaverse.
Vogue Business: I was recently talking to successful Roblox creator, Rush Bogin, and he said his avatar is wearing an entirely nude-coloured outfit. Do you have an avatar? And if so, what do they wear?
I don’t have one now, but whenever I make one, I tend to make them not look like me. I make it something completely different. I want to be, like, a wizard.
Vogue Business: In virtual worlds, a lot of the items for sale are full looks, so the role of the stylist often comes in quite early in the design process instead of the consumer mixing and matching. What is the role of styling in digital spaces?
I can’t imagine that people would use a stylist in the metaverse because you can see what you like and you can buy full looks. So much of styling that’s tricky — the problems I’m solving in real life — are bodies and budgets. Everything fits in the metaverse. You just buy the whole outfit. When people see an influencer, they can, for a relatively little amount of money, buy the whole look. In real life, if you were going to buy Kim Kardashian’s outfit, it would cost you thousands of dollars.
Vogue Business: Do you feel a need to diversify the role of styling? The recent actors’ strike in Hollywood had an impact on so many people in the fashion industry. Have you felt that roles like the one with Blueberry could be an avenue for diversifying?
I’ve always been doing this stuff. I had a line of lingerie in Japan for seven years. I always like to do a little something extra. I enjoy my job, but I’m hyperactive. I don’t sleep a lot. I wrote a book. I did a Target collection. It doesn’t feel different to me than it ever did. I love styling, but I think had I gone to design school, I probably would have been a very happy designer. I like making things and I like working with people who make things. And this doesn’t feel so different from consulting for a brand that’s cool, you know? You’re talking about colours and trends and what s working, what’s not working, and then what the response was and how can we think about a new version of that? And it feels very much the same to me.
Vogue Business: I was blown away when I learned that businesses like Blueberry can earn more than a $1 million a year selling digital fashion, and these pieces often sell for just a few dollars, so people can afford to change it up all the time and wear designer pieces.
Right — and without that eco footprint. You don’t have that sickly feeling that you do with fast fashion.
Vogue Business: It’s interesting because people often say it’s “money wasted” on digital fashion because it’s not physically real.
They laugh at me at Blueberry because I call them “imaginary outfits”… But it does exist. It’s not like time spent online is not real. It is.
Interview has been lightly edited for length.
Comments, questions or feedback? Email us at feedback@voguebusiness.com.
