Looking to the future: Is gender a fashion trend or a turning point?

I: See you in the metaverse?

Man is inclined to believe that everything is possible in view of the rapidly advancing digitization. Latest example: virtual fashion. Digitally generated, physically non-existent clothes worn on social media and in game. And with whom business is done. The idea is captivating. We don’t get dressed because we’d be cold. Clothing has always been used for personal branding, and to the extent that we spend our lives online, we position ourselves in the media.

Instagram & Co. are platforms for self-expression, a huge ecosystem of apps serves the need for visual self-optimization. The step to the virtual outfit is obvious. And digital goods are definitely more environmentally friendly than wardrobing, where designer fashion that has already been produced is only ordered for the photo and then sent back. Thought through, virtual fashion may even be something like the solution to all of the fashion industry’s sustainability problems.

But seriously: There is a good deal of exaggeration in the topic, fueled by Mark Zuckerberg, who even renamed his Facebook group Meta in search of a new stock market story. It seems as if fashion brands, which have always liked to position themselves progressively, are once again hyped up without asking themselves where the benefit for the target group is.

Perhaps something like the next evolutionary step in fashion marketing will be initiated with the metaverse. It is a phenomenon that the prices of luxury brands in particular have moved away from the production costs: Where in the days of haute couture exorbitant prices were asked for exclusive handicrafts, which were absolutely justified, simple T-shirts for 600 euros and ordinary sneakers are now being sold sold for 1000 euros. Next, brands are bringing virtual fashion to men and women. You don’t even get a specific product for your money, just brand status

II: Are sneakers the new ties?

At the latest with the triumph of the home office, formalwear seems to have been finally done with. Casual Friday has become Casual Weekday. The tie in particular has had its day as a symbol of formality. Although the boss of the Italian men’s fashion fair Pitti Uomo in Florence, Raffaello Napoleone, recently announced the comeback of the colorful tie, he probably wanted to encourage his exhibitors above all. The tie has long since served its purpose as a sign of seriousness. It was tie wearers who gave us the financial crisis.

The same care that the fashionable man used to take when choosing his tie, he now gives his shoes. It is not uncommon for sneakers to be worn with a suit and intended to provide an individual touch, which was once the function of the tie. Too bad these sneakers are mostly white. Perhaps it will indeed be as Napoleone says, and the tie is about to make a fashion comeback. It wouldn’t be the first time that an anti-trend has become fashionable. At a time when young men in t-shirts are running billionaire corporations, those who wear ties may be the real rebels.