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Tech giant Meta announced on Saturday that it is launching a new designer clothing store called the "Meta Avatars Store." The online virtual boutique will be made available across Facebook, Instagram and Messenger, and enable users to buy virtual clothes for their digital avatars with real money.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg made the announcement during an Instagram Live with Instagram’s vice president of fashion partnerships Eva Chen.
In a Facebook post, Zuckerberg wrote, "We're launching our Avatars Store on Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger so you can buy digital clothes to style your avatar."
The company said that the feature will be rolled out next week in the US, Canada, Mexico and Thailand on June 20. We do not have an official confirmation of when the feature will be made available for India.
Over the past year or so, the social media company has been steadily building the infrastructure needed for a metaverse. Facebook renamed its parent company to Meta in October to emphasise its aim to shift from traditional social media to a virtual metaverse. In February, the company introduced 3D avatars across Facebook, Messenger and Instagram.
Meta believes that digital goods will play an important role in its metaverse future. The company says that its new digital avatar store will help its users express themselves and also drive the metaverse economy. The company is bringing designer clothing brands like Balenciaga, Prada and Thom Browne to the metaverse.
Need a fresh fit for your avatar? We're launching our Avatars Store on Facebook, Instagram and Messenger so you can buy digital clothes. Mark Zuckerberg and @evachen212 tried out new looks from @BALENCIAGA @Prada @ThomBrowne ✨https://t.co/7SN0hdYz2D pic.twitter.com/Bp9zeK2ZNl
— Meta Newsroom (@MetaNewsroom) June 17, 2022
"Digital goods will be an important way to express yourself in the metaverse and a big driver of the creative economy," Zuckerberg said in a statement. "I'm excited to add more brands and bring this to VR soon too. Eva Chen and I tried out some of the new looks from Balenciaga, Prada, and Thom Browne – a change of pace from my terrycloth sweater."
Meta says that it plans to make its online avatar store an open marketplace and not just limit it to luxury brands. It says it will allow developers to create and sell their own clothing.
It is unknown if people will actually buy virtual clothing for their avatars, however, stranger things have happened in the online world like, you know, NFTs. One thing is for sure, Meta is betting big on the metaverse going mainstream and maybe one day you might find yourself reading Eastern Mirror in your virtual home.