Metanomics - Fashion! began this week with a full fashion show pre-event. Models walked the runway showing off Raven Pennyfeather's RFyre designs and made a big impression on the audience. JenzZa Misfit provided a fantastic photo set of it over on her gallery, and is definitely worth taking the time to peruse. You can now listen to the audio of the discussion and watch the footage over at the SLCN Metaversed channel. (Direct video download here.)
The event was hosted by Robert Bloomfield of Cornell University (pictured above on the right) who ran the panel of three guests: haute couture designer Nyla Cheeky (pictured above, left), gothic fashion designer Raven Pennyfeather, and pop culture media maven Jack Myers. It was an impressively well-balanced panel, with each contributor adding their own take on the critical role of emotional response for business in virtual worlds.
After the event I managed to catch up to the two designers for a post-interview. First up was Nyla Cheeky. Her real-world clothing line, featured on the website House of Nyla, features expensive custom designs for a clientele interested in one-of-a-kind haute couture. For the past year and a half she's also been selling her designs in Second Life, and concentrates on a single location. People go out of their way to find her store (click for SLurl), and she sells well despite being very high priced.
She made a conscious decision not to open multiple outlets to spread her name across the grid, as her entire product line is based on "destination shopping". People go to her to get something unique, and they'll go out of their way to do it. Couture is one-on-one, and for the interaction to work, she needs to be there.
I was able to catch up with Raven Pennyfeather soon afterward. Her ornate gothic clothing line exists solely in Second Life, and in contrast to Nyla, is available at 111 locations across the grid. Her main store (click here for SLurl) is filled with outfits featuring the three big colors of virtual world fashion: black, red and blue. (There are some very dark greens, but few other colors seem to sell well.) She rarely does custom work, but does look for inspiration directly from her customers. Most of her designs are inspired from conversations with her customers. She spends a lot of time finding out what inspires people, and it comes out in her designs.
While Nyla and Raven couldn't be more different in how they approach fashion, they both told me the exact same thing about success: what the customer feels is paramount. They were both big supporters of Jack Myers' take on the issue: while in previous generations we were taught not to think with our emotions, younger generations are learning to give equal footing to both the intellect and the heart. Nyla echoed this sentiment later: "Emotional issues rule in SL," she said, and that if customers weren't reacting instinctively to the designs, nothing would be selling. Raven said the same kind of thing: "It's about the relationship, it's about the passion [...] it's about the emotional response."
Ignoring this phenomena when it comes to creating a brand experience may explain why so many companies have failed in Second Life. The key to success for business in virtual worlds may be an entirely emotional issue.
