Much is being written about the “blending” of physical and digital under the auspices of “unified commerce.” At the same time, we are being inundated by all things metaverse, aka Web3. Are they mutually exclusive? A recent Fast Company article looking at the future of fashion in Web3 begins to fill in some blanks.

If Web1 was about “read” and Web2 was about “read and write,” then Web3 is about “read, write, and own,” says Farfetch Founder and CEO José Neves. Fashion, Neves says, is a deeply human endeavor and a core part of who we are as individuals. Fashion allows us to apply different “masks” based on how we feel, who we want to be, or what we want to portray on any given day. “We always think of technology as enhancing the human interaction between curators, creators, and levels of fashion, as opposed to replacing that human connection.”

Neves goes on, “For me, the definition of Web3’s application to fashion is the application of these principles of user control, user ownership and decentralized architecture to the fashion use cases.” The technology enables innovation, even if that translates to you and your avatar becoming “digital twins” by wearing the exact same outfit, extending brand loyalty across the metaverse. Hopefully it’s a good deal more.

A Betta…