From a digital lens, London-based Web3 studio RTFKT established itself as a pioneer in the virtual sneaker industry by creating gravity-defying virtual shoes that can be minted and worn across the metaverse. A big reason for the platform’s success is its “streetwear” approach to marketing – bypassing the jargon of the metaverse and going straight to sneakerhead’s consumer interest in exclusivity, design and collaboration. Since being acquired by Nike in 2021, they’ve continued to build momentum with projects including Cryptokicks iRL. Subsequently, inspired by RTFKT, Nike recently announced a Web3 platform dubbed “.SWOOSH” for users to design and sell their own sneakers.

3D printing is extending itself past manufacturing and into unchartered terrain of design influence. From Matthew Williams x Nike to Maison Margeila x Reebok, recent rubber clogs and luxury slides have clear nods to modular 3D aesthetics. Although simpler and smoother in design, these creations are more complex and conceptual in their configuration. Usually released in minimal hues and featuring sculptured accents, these kicks can be spotted with a laceless look, asymmetric cutouts, hole-punching and lightweight ergonomics.

The way garments adapt to the body could soon shift to new silhouettes, perhaps focusing less on the human form and more on the limitless shapes of our digital selves. As the industry's influence becomes circularly inspired between the URL and IRL, AR will enable digital fashion to be digitally painted onto our bodies offering multiple modes to experience a garment. We will be able to continue to collaborate with brands through digital crowdsourcing to celebrate design between screens and runways – with an expanded attention to garments that can exist between multiverses.

Whether inspired by natural terrains or by extraterrestrials, this new wave of fluid design will enable an efficient way of experimental aesthetic ideation from new materials to new levels of interactivity. From an accessibility perspective, 3D printing will make digital designs possible in physical formats, opening room for us to materialize otherworldly digital creations.

The way garments adapt to the body could soon shift to new silhouettes, perhaps focusing less on the human form and more on the limitless shapes of our digital selves. As the industry's influence becomes circularly inspired between the URL and IRL, AR will enable digital fashion to be digitally painted onto our bodies offering multiple modes to experience a garment. We will be able to continue to collaborate with brands through digital crowdsourcing to celebrate design between screens and runways – with an expanded attention to garments that can exist between multiverses.