Mary Ren has become the first woman to own a digital couture dress, as gifted to her by her husband, Richard Ma. The chief executive of San Francisco-based security company Quantstamp, has explained that he and his wife don't often buy expensive clothes but felt this dress has long-term value. Ma justified his £7,500 purchase in a futuristic fashion saying, 'It's definitely very expensive, but it's also like an investment ... In 10 years time everybody will be 'wearing' digital fashion. It's a unique memento. It's a sign of the times.'
The dress in question was designed by photo-real 3D fashion brand, The Fabricant, and although it's easy to point out how ludicrous the idea of buying digital clothing might be, is there some method in the madness? The Fabricant, located in the heart of Amsterdam, have commented on the dress saying 'couture that exists beyond the physical, is just like a thought,' an idea that they've cleverly coined 'thought couture' in place of haute couture. They argue that although hundreds and hundreds of hours go into making a haute couture dress, the same amount of hours will go into thinking, designing and animating Mary's dress. They said 'we are creative technologists pioneering new channels for human connection and self-expression through digital-only fashion.'
£7,500 is a lot to spend on a dress, however if you're in the market for a couture dress this is actually a reasonable amount to pay. Stylecaster reported that 'Daywear can start at $10,000, while a heavily embroidered and intricate gown can cost several hundred thousand dollars.' To put this in perspective, Samantha Mumba (blast from the noughties past) attended the 2004 premiere of Spiderman II in a $9 million dress by Scott Henshall. OK, not exactly the hight of couture but you catch our drift.
What makes Samantha's $9 million dress plausible is it was diamond-encrusted, and funnily enough, you could actually touch it, wear it and it was real... basic qualities that aren't at the forefront of Richard Ma's mind.
Famously, Miquela, is the world's first digital influencer, who, like Mary's dress, is also animated and is not real. She has 1.7 million followers and is followed and pictured with many celebrities like, Millie Bobby Brown.
Don't worry, for now digital clothing isn't exactly a popular trend, but maybe keep an eye out for Zara's latest drop in 2080...
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