The clothing, footwear and accessories brand Tommy Hilfiger has teamed up with video game publisher Tilting Point to create its own fashion styling game, Fashion Verse. Premium brand Dolce & Gabbana and gaming brand Razer collaborated to launch a video game apparel and accessories collection in November 2024. In the summer of 2023, luxury clothing brand Ralph Lauren and European cybersports organization G2 Esports released a capsule collection including tracksuits, hooded sweatshirts and t-shirts.
At first glance, fashion and video games are entirely different industries. However, companies in both categories are coming together to capture gamers’ attention. Today, the video game market is a multi-billion dollar industry with global recognition and an impressive audience, most of which are young people. Fashion brands realize how huge the gaming industry’s potential is.
Over the past few years, fashion brands have been gradually embracing gamification. According to statistics, in 2023, the number of gamers around the world reached 3.38 billion, and the gaming industry’s revenue amounted to 184 billion dollars. This figure exceeds the revenue of the global movie business, streaming TV business, and North American sports combined. According to Chris Erb, founder and co-founder of video game marketing agency Tripleclix, most Zoomers (members of Generation Z) today play video games.
Gamers are an active and engaged audience, which makes them valuable customers. This is especially true for fans of the iGaming industry. After all, online gambling has become popular in recent years. Arcade games such as Plinko are particularly popular. Many people see them as an alternative to video games. Having conducted a survey amongst amateurs, we found out that people find it most convenient to open online casino review sites to find a platform to play on, there you can always find an up-to-date list of sites with a licence. One of the sites with good reviews from users is Plinkogames, which provides the most comprehensive information on each online casino with Plinko game. If you visit this site, there you will also find a wide list of bonuses and promo codes for a more enjoyable gaming experience. Such simplicity attracts a lot of new players. And these are adults who have the financial ability to buy branded clothes. Online casinos need such customers. That’s why they try to make collaborations with famous brands in the fashion world.
Mutually beneficial cooperation
Fashion brands try to attract gamers’ attention to their logos. For example, Dolce & Gabbana’s collection, released in collaboration with Razer, was presented at RazerCon 2023, a large-scale event dedicated to the gaming industry. G2 athletes and content creators wore the Ralph Lauren capsule collection clothing during the League Of Legends European Championship (LEC) held in Berlin.
Tommy Hilfiger, the eponymous brand’s founder, revealed that video games have become a potential retail platform for him. The Fashion Verse app allows gamers to dress up their characters in realistic clothes. Players can also buy more clothes and earn rewards to improve their closets.
However, it is not easy to capture the gaming community’s attention. Since gamers are an enthusiastic audience, fashion brands must find different ways to reach out. Brands that reach out to gamers must realize they are investing in a long-term plan, not a one-time marketing campaign. For example, gamers criticized the Dove brand after it teamed up with Epic Games’ Unreal Engine. They created an ad that criticized the over-sexualization of women in video games.
According to Erb, fashion brands should not take something from gaming culture but add something to it. Video games are not a way to promote fashion in the gaming market, but they are a good start to building a close and trusting relationship with the audience.
