Brands including Forever 21, DKNY, and Estée Lauder have joined in the first Metaverse Fashion Week, which began Thursday (24/03) and runs through Sunday in the virtual world called Decentraland.

This overlap between immersive digital realms and fashion has been taken a step further by Decentraland, a browser-based 3D virtual world, which is in the midst of hosting a major multi-day fashion event. Over the course of three days, from March 24 to 27, Decentraland is hosting Metaverse Fashion Week (MVFW22), with a cluster of participating brands, artists, and designers, featuring AI and robots, luxury wearables, and immersive runway experiences.

It appears to be an ambitious endeavor indeed, but the platform secured the presence of luxury designers, huge fashion houses, and high-street stores to take part. The list itself is massive. Think: Estée Lauder, Philipp Plein, DKNY, Karl Lagerfeld, Dolce & Gabbana, Selfridges, Forever 21, Perry Ellis America.

The shows and events take place in community-run neighborhoods within Decentraland. Selfridges and Forever 21 have even purchased real estate in the metaverse, debuting their flagship stores during MVFW, featuring NFT wearables and exclusive online collections that users can purchase. Other brands, like Tommy Hilfiger, are offering physical products such as NFTs, too. To make purchases (and create a Decentraland account), you’ll need an Ethereum wallet. Otherwise, you can attend as a guest.

Peppered in between these designer experiences are a fashion week staple: after-parties, including performances by meta performers and real-life (!) artists, including Grimes. The metaverse-savvy singer is poised to be closing digital fashion house Auroboros’ MVFW show with a DJ set in the finale of Fashion Week inside Decentraland’s Luxury Fashion District.

The most striking part of Metaverse Fashion Week extravaganza is how it differs from fashion week in reality. Within the digital ecosystem, anyone can attend, paving the path to eliminating exclusivity and allowing more fashion enthusiasts to experience something entirely new.

“Decentraland is a virtual social world for everyone, anywhere,” says Decentraland Foundation’s creative director, Sam Hamilton. “A space built by and run for by its community. Through MVFW22, we endeavor to broaden the horizon of what ‘metaverse’ means. We just leveled up the playing field for the world of fashion and decreased the limitations.”