AVATARS
When someone mentions the word “avatar”, the first things that come to mind are recent phenomena linked to video games like Sims. However, this is an ancient word that comes from Sanskrit and it refers to the incarnation in earthly forms of the god Vishnu or another Hindu deity.
(Mjasnikova, 2021)
FRAKS©️ begun to connect the dots. Indeed, one may argue that avatars known today, to a certain extent, are our extension and reincarnations in the virtual world. An avatar may resemble its creator to perfection and be used to visualize the fit of a garment or it can be a rather alter-ego with a different hair color, gender and even character.
The first one was the route taken by Yoox and Gap. For example, Gap collaborated with Avametric and Google to design a virtual dressing room based on the shoppers biometrics.
The second approach lies behind the digital personal like Shudu and Lil Miquela, who became actual influencers, collaborating with various fashion brands. In this case, they don’t have their “real world” copies, as they are a fruit of imagination of their creators, Cameron-James Wilson and Trevor McFedries and Sara Decou.
Lastly, the platform Genies offers a mix of both. Upon the creation of the avatar the users can dress them in Gucci branded clothes, interact with other avatars and purchase real garments.
If we were to look at this phenomenon philosophically, FRAKS©️ would say that we become our own small gods with every avatar in which we digitally inhale life through the click of a button.