Meta is launching an avatar store, and designer clothes are the first products

If you’ve ever thought, “I would like my digital avatar to wear poorly rendered designer clothing,” I have excellent news for you.

Meta is launching an online store where Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger users can purchase digital clothing for their avatar. The first brands on the store are Prada, Balenciaga, and Thom Browne, and clothes include a motocross outfit, a logo hoodie, and suits.

In a Facebook post, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said more brands would be added soon.

“Digital goods will be an important way to express yourself in the metaverse and a big driver of the creative economy,” he says.

Luxury fashion houses are increasingly partnering with technology companies to create branded digital garments. Last year, Fortnite introduced Balenciaga skins so players could purchase garments like a branded hoodie for their in-game characters. In Roblox, players can visit Gucci Town, complete with a garden featuring the brand’s logo and a virtual store.

Despite the big names in Meta’s launch, the news dropped quietly this afternoon, and the company didn’t immediately respond to a request for more details. Meta says the store will launch “soon,” though information on how users will access the store wasn’t immediately available. Hopefully the digital clothes will cost less than the real thing. In a livestream today, Eva Chen, director of fashion partnerships at Instagram, previewed one look featuring a cropped T-shirt, low-rise jeans, and a white belt, outfitted on Zuckerberg’s avatar.

“I don’t know that I ever could have pulled that off,” he said. I agree!