WHO: StyleSlam (www.facebook.com/applications/StyleSlam/19712882952), a Facebook application.
DRESS-UP RULES: Customize an avatar that may or may not resemble your Facebook profile pic, stock your wardrobe with trendy clothes bought from an eBay-like marketplace. Buying clothes low and selling or trading high moves you up the StyleSlam ranks.
ARENA OF INFLUENCE: The eBay resemblance is no coincidence: London-based developer Harmonypark (www.harmonypark.net) produced the application for the online auction site as a way for them to capitalize upon their most popular category (fashion) through a casual game format. British girl group Girls Aloud have even become involved, promoting their “Can’t Speak French” single as “celebrity guest style advisors.”
GLITCHES: Limited choice in skins, hairstyles and body shapes makes it difficult to create an avatar that actually looks like you.
UPDATES: Harmonypark co-founder Andrew McPhee says that StyleSlam wants to carry clothing that relates to more “real world brands”: “We have a lot of people wanting to [add] their own clothing, [so we are] engaging young designers who want to participate more.” In other words, expect a rise in virtual shopping on Facebook.
WHO: Second Life (www.secondlife.com), the 3-D virtual world.
DRESS-UP RULES: Think Barbies for grown-ups. “It’s fantasy,” says blogger Eden Spodek (www.bargainista.blogspot.com) and SL fashion avatar expert. “You can be a short, dumpy woman who in SL is a tall, voluptuous blond wearing stunning clothes…. Women have developed really interesting styles that are totally different from their real life.”
ARENA OF INFLUENCE: Many parties are making Linden Dollars (SL’s currency) by creating skins and virtual clothes for residents wanting to outfit their motional avatars — even brands like Calvin Klein and Chanel have gotten involved. Whether it’s designing geisha hairstyles or “steampunk” clothes, SL is forecasting digital dressmaking as a prototype platform for real-world designers.
GLITCHES: “The barrier to SL is really tough,” explains Spodek of the difficulties first-time users encounter. “Whoever comes up with a Club Penguin/Webkinz version of 3-D web will be doing something interesting in that space down the road.”
UPDATES: With a fashion magazine (Second Style Magazine, www.secondstyle.com) keeping track of trends and designers and fashion police calling out don’ts (http://slfashionpolice.com), a community is building that may help ease the initial accessibility issues.
WHO: Stardoll (www.stardoll.com) claims it’s the “world’s largest online entertainment destination for girls aged 9-17 focused on fame, fashion and friends.”
DRESS-UP RULES: Basically an online version of playing with paper dolls: users dress up versions of Madame Toussaud–accurate celebrities and create their own customized “MeDolls” in virtual fashions available to buy with “Stardollars.”
ARENA OF INFLUENCE: According to Glenn Ginsberg, senior vice-president of advertising sales, Stardoll is the No. 1 site for tweens. In a research study asking users about their enthusiasm for virtual versions of favourite brands, “our audience resoundingly said if they dress up their MeDoll and they like this cute outfit, they will go to this store and check it out. That makes [Stardoll] very powerful.”
GLITCHES: Stardoll is probably the best fashion avatar game online, although the implications of Ginsberg’s statement on the future of fashion commerce are a little scary.
UPDATES: With celebrity and brand involvement sure to increase (Heidi Klum shills a virtual jewellery line on the site), Stardoll will up the ante with “StarBazaar” — a vintage shop that will allow them to resell virtual clothes — and “StarDesign,” which will let users create their own clothing.