At avatar fashion store, Meta to sell virtual clothes for real money
By Katie Paul
(Reuters) -Fb proprietor Meta Platforms is launching a digital clothes retailer the place customers can buy designer outfits for his or her avatars, Chief Govt Mark Zuckerberg mentioned on Friday.
Digital outfits designed by vogue manufacturers Balenciaga, Prada and Thom Browne might be out there for buy to start out, mentioned Zuckerberg, talking in a reside video stream with Instagram’s head of vogue.
A Meta spokesperson mentioned they might be priced between $2.99 and $8.99, a lot lower than the true outfits by these designers. Prada’s Matinee ostrich leather-based bag, for instance, sells for $10,700.
Zuckerberg mentioned he hoped to construct the shop out into an open market the place builders can create and promote a big selection of digital garments.
Avatars have emerged as a technique for Meta to hyperlink consumer identification throughout Fb, Instagram and its different providers, because it more and more ties the platforms collectively and steers towards constructing an immersive “metaverse” of shared, interconnected digital worlds the place customers can collect.
Customers of the corporate’s digital actuality headsets arrange avatars to play video video games, take train lessons and take part in convention calls, though initially the digital outfits might be out there solely on Fb, Instagram and Messenger, Meta mentioned in a press release.
The corporate redesigned its digital actuality avatars final 12 months to be extra expressive and three-dimensional, then made them out there on Fb, Instagram and Messenger beginning in January.
(Reporting by Katie Paul and Ahmed Farhatha; modifying by Jonathan Oatis and David Gregorio)
