RYOT presents the next era of virtual fashion shows

LONDON, 15 July 2020: RYOT, Verizon Media’s Emmy Award®-winning immersive storytelling production house, announced today the launch of The Fabric of Reality, a fully immersive fashion show in partnership with Kaleidoscope, the Museum of Other Realities (MOR) and the Fashion Innovation Agency (FIA) at London College of Fashion, UAL. The experience will be a first of its kind virtual reality fashion exhibition, aimed at taking audiences on a journey to explore the story and narrative behind the designer’s collection. The exhibition will launch on the 29th July and last for 12 months within the Museum of Other Realities multiplayer VR platform – available through premium virtual reality headsets like the HTC Vive Cosmos or Pro.

The Fabric of Reality will showcase the work of three top designers, curated by FIA, and will enable audiences to view and interact in real time in 3D via VR headsets creating a new and unique way to experience a virtual fashion show. The experience will feature an exhibition room where the designers’ sculptural garments will be showcased, and three portals representing each project’s ‘Storyworld’ – a self-contained universe expressing the emotional reality of the Sculptural Garment. For fashion fans not able to view in VR, a live event with the designers inside the experience will stream at 18:30 BST on 29 July on Yahoo Style and HuffPost UK in 2D formats and will be available on VOD following the event.

The Museum of Other Realities is a community of creators, explorers and artists that have created a revolutionary virtual space, bringing together free-ranging and interactive experiences, with a focus on VR art. It was created in 2016 as a virtual museum and social venue showcasing digital art and media. Kaleidoscope brings together XR creators and industry leaders to develop, fund, and distribute new work. Both institutions are highly committed to supporting immersive artists, and make it a large part of their mission to showcase and promote independent virtual pieces.

The Fashion Innovation Agency has built a reputation for using emerging technologies to help designers change the way they make, sell and show their collections. RYOT has joined forces with these like-minded partners to create an exhibition that reimagines fashion shows now and in the future, bringing a completely new and exciting dimension to the way that designers’ concepts are showcased to audiences worldwide.

In preparation, designers have been paired with digital artists to dress the space in a style that matches both the audience and collection. Viewers engaging with the exhibition through VR headsets will appear as avatars or ghosts and will be able to fly and explore the space beyond physical limitations.

The partnership will create an immersive platform for fashion lovers to view and experience the visions of the designers of tomorrow. Designers showcased will include :

• Damara – a fashion media practitioner who focuses on blurring the binary of physical and digital to create positive change for sustainability whilst exploring digital fashion. Damara has partnered with Sutu (aka Stuart Campbell), who has been commissioned by the likes of Marvel and Disney to create VR art for properties such as “Doctor Strange” and “Ready Player One”.
• SABINNA – a designer who combines traditional handcraft with innovation to create timeless contemporary pieces to showcase how fashion can be a tool to reconnect with our mind and visions. SABINNA has partnered with VRHUMAN (aka Vladamir Ilic), who combines new mediums like Tilt Brush, 3D-software, and traditional media to expand our understanding of how we interact with our surroundings and with ourselves.
• Charli Cohen – a designer and activist, focused on a progressive, next-gen model for the fashion industry, telling meaningful stories that are grounded in physical product. Charli has partnered with Ana Duncan, an illustrator and designer in the animation industry, who has worked on projects for Warner Brothers, Disney and Cartoon Network. Charli has also been paired with John Orion Young (JOY), who creates original virtual muses.

“Interactive, immersive digital experiences are the future of live events – whether to augment analogue experiences or pure-play digital events. Designers and creators want to tell a story with their creations and a virtual world like the one we are bringing to life with the Museum of Other Realities allows them to tell so much more of the story behind their designs.” said Mark Melling, Head of EMEA at RYOT. “Never before has it been more important to highlight the opportunities to showcase creativity through virtual events. As 5G allows almost instant, real-time digital interactions, as well as smaller device form-factors like AR/VR glasses that don’t need computers inside them, XR experiences will grow exponentially. We hope that The Fabric of Reality will open up a world of possibilities for the future of fashion and other live events, along with bringing inspiration and enjoyment to fashion lovers all around the world.”

Kaleidoscope’s René Pinnell says: “Our mission is to become a beating heart of the global VR community, to fuel it with new creators, ideas and distribution opportunities. To see fashion talents and market innovators joining forces with top-notch immersive artists makes me confident that the future of the creative industries lies within virtual media”.

Matthew Drinkwater, Head of Fashion Innovation Agency, says: “It is vital that the fashion industry recognises the potential of immersive technologies to revolutionise every element of how it creates and communicates, including that most iconic moment – the catwalk itself. This project will reimagine the live show experience and offer an inspirational glimpse into the virtual future of fashion.”

The Fabric of Reality project is being delivered by RYOT as part of Verizon Media’s broader XR programme, Verizon Media Immersive. This suite of immersive products brings next-generation content experiences to consumers and customers of Verizon Media, including through its XR content partnerships amplifying original journalism through innovative formats that bring readers closer than ever to news stories around the world, as well as XR ad formats that deliver engaging, interactive advertising experiences across Verizon Media and beyond, and through immersive digital experiences like The Fabric of Reality.

Earlier this year, Verizon Media opened a new state of the art production studio in London, offering space to produce premium quality, 3D content including VR and AR experiences using state-of-the-art facilities like volumetric capture, motion capture and AR broadcast. The Fabric of Reality combines RYOT’s ambition to bring world-class content experiences to people across the globe, with Verizon Media’s focus on driving understanding of the capabilities of 5G, using cutting-edge technology designed to transform the consumer experience.

The launch event for The Fabric of Reality will take place on 29 July 2020 at 18:30 BST. Audiences will be available to view and interact in real time in 3D via VR headsets – and 2D video, streamed on Yahoo Style and HuffPost UK. Consumers will be able to experience the exhibition in VR within the Museum of Other Realities app on devices like the HTC Vive Cosmos for 12 months.