Hi German Design Award judges, this is the case for HYPEWEAR by ABOUT YOU – the first online shop for digital fashion
ABOUT YOU is one of the fastest growing e-commerce companies and one of the leading online fashion retailers in Europe, driving innovative projects and seeing itself as an industry pioneer in digital fashion. ABOUT YOU approached DEPT® with the vision to create an online shop for digital fashion. The aim: making digital fashion items accessible to the general public. DEPT® supported end-to-end, as both consultant and implementation partner.
Virtual Fashion – unlimited possibilities
First, the HYPEWEAR brand was created and the CI designed, both in close coordination with ABOUT YOU. DEPT® then conceptualized and developed the HYPEWEAR digital fashion online shop based on the agency’s own Algomart solution. As a last step, DEPT® created a teaser video for the high-profile launch of HYPEWEAR.
In addition to the fashion e-commerce business, ABOUT YOU aims to conquer the virtual fashion space and offer customers a wide variety of outfits. Virtual fashion allows creators to design pieces that are not wearable in real life or could not exist like this such as a jacket made of virtual flowers, a dress made of dancing tulle elements, or other unusual voluminous highlight pieces. There are different collections available in the HYPEWEAR shop; some of them are rare and limited in number, others are available more often. Customers have the opportunity to express themselves in a completely new way and to present themselves digitally; this is particularly relevant for Gen Z with regard to the fluid understanding of their identity.
It’s all ABOUT YOU
With the new platform for digital fashion, there are no physical limits to the customers‘ own self-expression. HYPEWEAR is a first mover to offer digital fashion and, according to its motto ‚From Tech to Human‘, the items are not only affordable for digital fashion fans, but also accessible without crypto knowledge. This makes the platform one of the pioneers in the market.
Fast First Mover – fast, simple and intuitive
The aim was to bring a first MVP of the online shop live in the shortest possible time to establish HYPEWEAR as the one-stop store for digital fashion items. The user journey was to be designed as simple and intuitive as possible, even for ’non-web3 natives‘, in order not to exclude anyone and to ensure that every user can purchase digital fashion items. In addition, brands should be able to sell their 3D fashion via HYPEWEAR to provide a large selection of different fashion pieces on the platform for the target group.
The metaverse has opened up a new, exciting world for companies and the fashion industry, which we at ABOUT YOU want to shape. With HYPEWEAR, we want to become the destination for digital fashion and the mainstream wardrobe of the metaverse. For this, we can rely on DEPT® as a strong partner in Web3 & Crypto.
Tarek Müller, co-founder and co-CEO, ABOUT YOU
The solution
An online shop for digital fashion based on the Algorand Blockchain
The selection of the appropriate blockchain was a key part of the project. The main focus was on ensuring that it was ecologically sustainable, fast, and had low processing fees (i.e. fees for mining and transferring the NFTs). DEPT® and ABOUT YOU selected Algorand. This blockchain has a minimal CO2 footprint and enables fast transactions between marketplace and customers.
Through the integrated CMS in the online store, ABOUT YOU can create and upload as many digital fashion items as desired. The occurring processing fees on Algorand are minor.
Thanks to the integration of custodial wallets, the creation of the crypto wallet in which the items are stored is handled directly for the customer in the registration process. This prevents a break in the customer journey, which would be associated with the time-consuming and complicated creation of crypto wallets and the subsequent connection in the store. Even Web3-inexperienced users can receive their digital fashion pieces with ease.
In addition to the 3D model of the respective digital fashion item and the NFT, customers also receive an edited photo of themselves onto which the virtual fashion piece is mapped. This step also fits perfectly into the entire customer journey and is kept as simple as possible. Customers can easily manage their digital fashion items in their profile and use the edited photos for social media.
Within just a few months, DEPT® and ABOUT YOU have created the first online store for digital fashion. HYPEWEAR pushes the boundaries of conventional fashion with three-dimensional fashion pieces. The platform acts as a digital milestone in this field, providing the impulse for many more future-forward, virtual projects.
The metaverse will continue to gain importance in the upcoming years and we see great potential here, which we want to explore together with the experts of DEPT®: We strongly believe in a transition phase of augmented reality, where your physical self presents digital fashion on social media, breaking down the boundaries of the previous fashion world and reaching an even larger audience.
Marius Bingener, Teamlead Content Development, ABOUT YOU
Visit the HYPEWEAR online shop
Questions?
Director Web3 & Partner