Consider this your official warning: digital fashion is about to become a thing across Meta products including Facebook and Instagram.
Starting today, Mark Zuckerberg-ies can take the next step towards obliterating their physical existence with the company’s updated 3D Avatars, now compatible across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and virtual reality via Quest.
As announced via Zuck’s official Facebook, Meta’s avatar feature — a way to represent yourself in cute-sy cartoon form, akin to Apple‘s Memoji or Bitstrips’ Bitmoji — now boasts several new customization options, including expanded skin tones, facial expressions, and other visual traits.
The tech CEO also wrote that Meta is “starting to experiment with digital clothing too, including official NFL shirts you can wear for the Super Bowl.”
In short — your Meta avatar is now three-dimensional, wears a Super Bowl LVI shirt, and can stand in for your living, breathing self across nearly your entire social media presence.
If I sound dramatic, it’s because I fear the day our digital avatars begin attending Zoom meetings in place of our staticky, low-res faces (which, as a matter of fact, is sort of already an option).
“One day you’ll have multiple avatars ranging from expressive to photorealistic. Looking forward to sharing more soon,” Zuckerberg ominously added.
Aside from the existential fears that Meta’s announcement stokes, Zuckerberg’s suggestion that the company will continue to explore digital clothing presents endless opportunities for brands, fashion and otherwise, to cash in.
Judging from a semi-YASSified before-and-after photo displaying Meta’s new digital wardrobe options, the possibilities are boundless: if your Facebook avatar can rep your favorite football team, why not your favorite sneaker? Labels including Gucci and Louis Vuitton have designed clothing for video games, so what’s not to say they’ll outfit a virtual Zuckerberg in Princetown loafers and a Neverfull bag?
Given Zuck’s latest, rather swag-less avatar, I’m kind of hoping it works out.
