Communicating Virtual Fashion: A Case Study of the Virtual Collection ‘Neo-Ex’

New technologies, such as 3D digital rendering, immersive platforms, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and AI, are creating new opportunities within the fashion industry, including virtual fashion. This chapter discusses how fashion brands communicate virtual products, by analysing the Neo-Ex campaign from Carlings. The study takes its point of departure in the key questions: What arguments are employed to market the garments, and how do fashion brands create a demand for these novel products, as well as attempting to construct a consumer understanding of what this new phenomenon is. Using a multimodal method and a document study, the study analyses campaign material, films, images, and articles, through the lens of brands as cultural intermediaries. Three themes emerged: virtual fashion as a concept for identity construction that advocates creativity, attitude, futurism, and early adopters, as well as communicating that virtual fashion is sustainability conscious. The main contribution is identifying the following three tactics for communicating virtual fashion: utilising emerging technologies for identity construction; educating the consumer; and using sustainability to validating its existence. While the first two tactics focus on building consumer awareness and acceptance, the third highlights sustainability as a rationale to legitimise virtual products.