It never really dawned on me that fashion has been present since the start of civilization. The Egyptians had their style that still comes alive once in a while. But I honestly think that it’s tough to break through the industry. It’s tough to have your fashion show because many of you are fighting for that one spot. Before you know it, you’ve burned through your budget without moving much inventory.

However, I firmly believe that the digital age is a great equalizer,, especially for artists and creators. It’s easier to make your show on YouTube or share your hit record on Spotify. Although when I heard about digital fashion for the first time, I had mixed emotions. First, is it possible to have fashion without the cloth, the sewing machines, and the models? Second, who will wear the digital creations?

I’ve been accustomed to fashion as models donning the latest collection as they walk along the runway. I’ve seen some friends make sketches of their latest design on paper but never transfer it to Photoshop. Given that I had a hard time marrying technology and fashion, I ended up reading more and was fascinated by what I discovered. In this budding creator economy nowadays, digital fashion makes a design collectible and desirable.

Why digital fashion?

If you’re a designer who is waiting for their big break, you must get in line to even get invited during a fashion week or get a feature in a magazine. Moreover, you don’t really know who your market is. You can create an elegant design, but who’s going to buy it?

Therefore, may I suggest that you create designs for the gaming industry. Yes, you’ve read that right, gaming! It’s not something that you just play in your basement. In fact, it has become a multi-billion industry with esports tournaments happening throughout the years. Likewise, the player economy is blossoming with streamers, gamers, and creators who earn from what they love, Gaming.

The best part about it is that the opportunities for creator monetization are endless. A new game may become popular in the coming months. If it has several characters, you can create designs for each of them and put them up for sale. You now have the power to distribute your work without a third-party retailer. Also, I’m sure that someone will appreciate your creative fashion and purchase what you offer.

With that said, finding a marketplace to share your designs won’t be a problem. You can share it on gaming forums or gamer groups and get a buyer. If you appeal to their desire of making their characters the coolest-looking mods in a game, your clientele may even grow. We’re talking about the future of fashion here. It’s a trend that will never end because casual play and esports are here to stay.

More importantly, you still get to become a fashion designer but without destroying the environment. I’m not kidding; the traditional fashion industry generates emissions that heavily contribute to climate change. Fast fashion is the biggest culprit here because they must produce clothing by the millions. So instead of being the next H&M or Zara, why not build your empire as a digital fashion icon?

How does it work?

DIGITALAX is the best example I’ve found of how digital fashion and gaming go hand in hand. They have a platform called ESPA that makes modding monetizable. Today, developers can make a living by sharing their fashion skins and wearables in-game. They can make it rare by offering their masterpiece as a non-fungible token. Of course, rarity drives up the price as always, and that’s why NFTs are raking in the money.

But before continuing, let me explain what an NFT or a non-fungible token is. For that, we need to understand blockchains, the technology behind cryptocurrencies, and the technology that allows gaming fashion to emerge as a promising sector. By putting it as simply as possible, blockchains are a decentralized digital distributed ledger that contains immutable blocks of data chained to one another. The main advantage of blockchain technology is that it’s impossible to hack, and everyone on the network can access the data. We’re not going to go too deep into the specifics of how cryptocurrencies use blockchain technology; however, with the myriad of benefits that blockchain technology provides, it’s no wonder that the sector is seeing success.

DIGITALAX is bridging fashion and gaming with casual esports battles through ESPA. Here, $MONA is the unique currency of the ecosystem that provides income streams between designers, developers and players. Players purchase skins from the DIGITALAX marketplace, and then can take them in-game to wear in the esports battles, where the NFT authenticates the player against their leaderboard scores. There’s a collection listed on the DIGITALAX marketplace, collaborated on with Charli Cohen and young modder Kodomodachi, that generated over $131,649.54 in $MONA! The most expensive design was sold for $27,367. Players can take these designs into the esports tournaments, for the Among Us mods, and start earning $MONA through winning streaks. Don’t be scared! Players aren’t having to dish out these large sums to purchase the NFTs, most designs are listed for below $10. DIGITALAX uses “Degrees of Rarity” to distinguish between exclusive, semi-rare and common NFT skins with varying price points and auction sales, ensuring that the NFT collectible whales and young players are all accommodated for within the ecosystem, maintaining the necessary liquidity for sustainability for the designers, developers and players.

The pitch to go digital

After seeing what DIGITALAX is doing for Gen-Z fashion, I’m now an advocate that the next generation of the fashion industry will be online. If you’re a designer that is not seeing much success with the traditional way, it’s time you embrace digital fashion. Not only will you support our planet’s sustainability, but you also gain an appreciation for your designs.

If you already have mods that you’d like to share, I implore that you do it via DIGITALAX. One day, you might even win for your design just like the winners of the Among Us competition held recently. I understand that all the terminologies and technicalities can be confusing. But once you get the hang of it, you’re unstoppable.

Aside from being a luminary of digital fashion, you also become a legend in the gaming industry. Time will come when there’s a hall of fame for both worlds, and you get to be eligible for both of them. Once you make a name for yourself, gaming developers themselves may approach you to create mods for them. By then, consider yourself lucky because you generate income from your passion. Did I paint a bright picture for you? You can only reach that if you will start your digital fashion journey through NFTs now.