At the latest London Fashion Week, the designer Jimmy Paul brought to the runway a collection inspired by Pokémon. By speaking the shared language of Gen Z, he has confirmed the renewed interest of fashion and luxury towards the gaming world, whose platforms could (already) represent “the future of social media”
by Massimiliano Viti
For Gen Z, Pikachu is much more than just a character. It stands for collective memory, shared language and strong visual identity. So, when – on February 21st – for the London Fashion Week, the designer Jimmy Paul brought to the runway a collection inspired by Pokémon, the message was clear. Contemporary fashion no longer draws inspiration solely from historic archives or traditional sub-cultures, but even from the digital universes that shaped the collective image of millions of gamers in the world.
A new generation of customers
The London runway show has even certified another phenomenon. After the craze for the Metaverse, the fashion industry has plunged back into gaming. A connection that has gained momentum in 2020/2021, during the Pandemic, and is now being revived. After all, the gaming world is a digital channel capable of globally reaching a brand new generation of customers. “If you are talking with someone under 20 and you ask him where he usually connects with his peers, he would tell you that he’s neither on Facebook, nor on Instagram. If anything, he would consume content on TikTok and Snapchat. But, in reality, he socializes on Roblox and Fortnite”, as Charles Hambro, CEO of the gaming insights platform Geeiq, tells Vogue.
If Pikachu walks the runway
Between 2024 and last year, Coach has launched four collaborations within the gaming world. Therefore, it’s not a case that it is a popular brand among Gen Z. “Our goal is to attract new customers and the Gen Z: we always want to make sure that we meet the consumers exactly where they are”, as stated by Kimberly Wallengren, manager of the American brand. At the end of 2025, even Balenciaga partnered with Pubg, Fortnite (approximately 1,48 million daily players and a total of 500 million registered players) and Rematch.
According to experts, if a luxury brand wants to attract Gen Z customers it simply has to consider an investment and a presence in online videogames, where – by the way – young people spend the most time: an average of 2,7 hours a day on Roblox, higher than the 2 hours a day spent on TikTok, 1,3 hours on Instagram and 1,2 hours on YouTube; figures provided by Geeiq. The average engagement duration on an Instagram post is between 1 to 4 seconds, while the average engagement time for an experience within Roblox adds up to 11 minutes. Then, in addition, almost three out of four Gen Z consumers identify themselves as digital players, according to the data shown by E-Marketer.
Pure communication platforms
But if it was the company’s innovation team leading the way in the Metaverse, the gaming industry is entirely driven by marketing. “brands should look at gaming as pure communication platforms, exactly as they do with Instagram and TikTok. Gaming platforms are, essentially, the future of social media”, declares Hambro, who underlines how the impression cost is much cheaper within these virtual worlds.
The risks
While these collaborations surely open up new sources of revenue and visibility for luxury brands, they also raise some questions. The distribution of skins and purchasable in-game cosmetics has transformed the digital identity into a marketable asset. The avatar becomes an important space of self-representation where users are willing to invest real money. When symbols of prestige are turned into skins, the concept of scarcity changes as well. In our concrete world, an object acquires rarity if it’s produced in limited quantity. In the gaming world, rarity can be programmed or just depend on the symbolic value that a specific item holds within the community.
All of this could generate remarkable success in terms of marketing, but could also undermine the concept of exclusivity. At the same time, brands must safeguard their peculiar artistic and creative DNA, without compromising it through irrelevant collaborations (see Balenciaga in 2021). Not to mention the importance of sustainability – the energy costs of infrastructures and the sustainability of digital items – and of transparency in terms of monetization methods (source luxus-plus.com).
Luxury gaming
Price ranges exist even in the gaming world. High-end entertainment is based on immersive solutions and customization, in order to make every aspect as exclusive as possible. So: immersive and hyper-realistic virtual worlds, exclusive online communities accessible by invitation only. But even virtual house settings in luxury estates, supercars, private islands and in-game purchases of designer watches and expensive jewelry. And within this sector, as told by Luxury Lifestyle Magazine, Artificial Intelligence came to the rescue.
AI makes a game that used to be the same for everyone unique and personal and, as a consequence, it attracts a brand new exclusive category of competitors. For example: the game turns more dynamic and it modifies itself in relation to the real-time decisions of the player. It adapts to the gamer’s skill level and playing style in order to ensure that every gaming session is enjoyable and not frustrating. Then, in some virtual worlds, it is possible to customize the setting to suit the player’s taste and preferences. Not to mention the virtual credit cards that are already the norm within luxury gaming.
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