TOP: THE PRADA LINEA ROSSA COLLECTION FOR RIDERS REPUBLIC; JULIA MARINO WINNING SILVER IN SLOPESTYLE AT THE BEJING 2022 WINTER OLYMPICS
As Team USA’s Julie Marino went airborne in the Slopestyle competition at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, winning a silver medal and going viral on her Prada snowboard, the fashion brand was gearing up for another snowboarding launch — along with skiing, mountain biking, and wing-suiting — joining forces with leading video game company Ubisoft to debut the newest Prada Linea Rossa collection in the virtual gaming world of Riders Republic.
The Prada Linea Rossa collection for Riders Republic dropped Tuesday with gear and apparel designed action and outdoor sports, set in American National Parks. Players can customize their characters in Linea Rossa looks that revisit signature Prada prints like the colorful Flame print, graphic Wild Stripes print, and geometric Camouflage Rock print — amplified with street-style attitude.
TOP: AIR JORDAN XI DROP IN FORTNITE; CENTER: RIDERS REPUBLIC PRADA LINEA ROSSA; BOTTOM: LOUIS VUITTON TROPHY CASE FOR LEAGUE OF LEGENDS CHAMPIONSHIP
While fashion was originally slow to embrace the gaming world, Covid pushed designers to explore new ways to show their collections with live shows forced to cancel. Fashion brands have increasingly been exploring the digital space and tapping into the booming world of video games, creating new opportunities to stay relevant and embrace next generation markets. Balenciaga, for example, debuted their Fall 2021 collection in the multi-platform game Afterworld: The Age of Tomorrow. Players took an interactive journey on a virtual catwalk of “mythological pasts and projected futures”, modeled by 50 volumetric characters in an imaginary 3D world.
Other examples include Gucci and The North Face kicking off 2021 with a collaboration collection for Pokémon Go; Air Jordan XI Cool Grey dropped in the Jumpman Zone of Fortnite, continuing the Jordan Brand partnership with Epic Games; Louis Vuitton created a trophy case trunk for the League of Legends World Championship Summoner’s Cup; and both Ralph Lauren and Christian Louboutin forayed into the meteverse of the Zepeto social gaming app.
Meanwhile back in the real world, Prada has been busy on the slopes this season. Julie Marino’s Prada snowboard, as well as her helmet and goggles designed in collaboration with Oakley, are available as part of the Linea Rossa winter sports collection of gear, apparel and accessories.
