Style
Bulgari launches its first metaverse experience and digital collection
Another high-fashion label joins the metaverse craze.
If you’re building your digital avatar’s luxury collection, allow Bulgari to be your next pickup. The Italian luxury brand is opening its first virtual experience with Zepeto, Asia’s biggest metaverse platform. The duo has set up special quests for users to complete, giving them a chance to dress their avatar in the label’s heritage luxury.
The garments for sale include the label’s 2022 resort collection, inspired by the summer skies. Online visitors can participate in quests and challenges to be granted access to the resort collection’s clothes and accessories for their avatars, including B.zero1, Divas’ Dream, and Serpenti jewelry, accessories, and watches.
Bulgari is also opening a physical pop-up store and cafe called “Bulgari Sunset In Jeju” that mirrors the virtual experience. The physical stops are located in the Parnas Hotel Jeju in South Korea, but the virtual Bulgari World experience can be enjoyed from anywhere.
Step into Zepeto — To kick off the event, Bulgari enlisted the help of one of its global ambassadors, Blackpink’s Lisa. The K-pop star spoke at a live event earlier this week, and users can interact with her character in Bulgari World by taking selfies with her avatar.
While Bulgari is a high-end label, 80 percent of Zepeto’s platform users are teenagers, the company notes in its press release. Other brands have settled into the world of Roblox or Fortnite to present their web3 strategies; Bulgari’s arrival in the Asian market first could be due to studies that show that Chinese luxury consumers will grow from 32 percent of the market in 2022 to 40 percent in 2024.
The rise of the metaverse and the general popularity of video games has luxury brands trying to tap in, encouraging younger generations to spend their money on designer pieces for their avatars. Bulgari says its virtual world is aimed at “cementing its position as a popular playground for global Generation Z in the era of metaverse.”
Bulgari World opened this week on Zepeto’s gaming platform. If you can’t afford a real-life Bulgari chain or a trip to the IRL “Bulgari Sunset In Jeju” experience, dressing your avatar may be the next best thing.
