The New Reality of Fashion is Digital | Gala Marija Vrbanic | TED

Translator: Tracy Hui Reviewer: Thomas Tam

I often get this question:

我成日被人問：

"Why would anyone buy a piece of clothing that doesn't exist?"

「點解有人會買唔存在嘅衫？」

And as you can see, it's not that it doesn't exist.

啲衫係唔係存在 你都睇到㗎﹗

Digital fashion is real, and it exists in so many virtual universes,

數位時裝係真實嘅 存在喺好多虛擬世界度

ranging from basic social networks

由基本社交網絡

to fully developed virtual worlds known as the metaverse,

到已發展俗稱元宇宙嘅虛擬世界

letting people express themselves in a way not possible before.

俾人喺以往唔存在嘅形式嚟表現自己

I’ve been playing video games since I [can] remember,

記憶所及 一直都玩緊電腦遊戲

dressing up my game character.

係幫啲遊戲角色着衫

Actually, I enjoyed it more than dressing up myself.

其實幫佢哋着衫 仲享受過幫自己着衫

Five years ago, I was running a physical fashion brand.

五年前，我有個實體時裝品牌

But because of my gaming experience,

但係打機嘅經驗使我

I kept thinking:

不斷喺度諗：

“How and why could people wear digital garments?”

「點解啲人需要 同點樣着呢啲衫？」

And there was a reason I believed they would.

我相信係有個原因嘅

In 2016, I did research on “hypebeast culture.”

喺 2016 年我研究過 「時尚文化」

You know, those people buying and selling garments

嗰啲買賣衫嘅人 成日都賣晒啲衫

that are always sold out.

As part of this research,

喺呢個研究嘅部分

I've joined various Facebook groups where they were gathering.

我加入有人群聚集嘅 Facebook 群組

What I noticed was they were usually buying those pieces

留意到佢哋通常買啲衫

just to post a photo of themselves wearing it on their social channels.

淨係為影幾張相 放喺社交平台就算

And later on, they would resell it.

然後佢哋就賣返出去

So they didn't need or want the actual garment.

佢哋係唔想擁有、唔再需要啲衫

They wanted its image, and that image was being used online.

只係想喺網上穿起件衫嚟表現吓自己

And it made sense to me,

噉做係對我好有意義

because, like most of my generation,

由於呢個年代嘅人

they had their friends, peers, role models in the virtual space,

喺虛擬世界入面 有朋友、同輩、仲有偶像

and this is where we care to express ourselves.

我哋想喺嗰度表現自己

This is when I started experimenting

就噉我開始嘗試

with what today we know as digital fashion.

依家嘅數位時裝喇﹗

Now I run the world's first direct-to-consumer digital fashion brand

仲經營首個直接面向客戶 數位時裝品牌

and a fashion tech house.

同間時裝科技公司

We officially started last year,

我哋上年先正式成立

and our growth has been unimaginable from a traditional fashion perspective.

啲增長完全套用唔到 喺傳統時裝模式

Apart from doing our own designs,

我哋除咗自己設計

we regularly collaborate with the biggest names from the industry.

仲定期同最知名嘅時裝品牌合作

With Carolina Herrera, we collaborated on a runway dress

同 Carolina Herrera 做過一條 catwalk 時裝裙

and developed an app

仲研發咗個 app

where you can wear the dress on your phone using augmented reality.

喺電話可用增強現實模式着呢條裙

And with Jean Paul Gaultier,

另外同 Jean Paul Gaultier

we collaborated on a piece that was part of their couture collection.

做咗屬於佢哋高級時裝嘅作品

We even have our flagship store in the Decentraland,

我哋有間旗艦店喺 Decentraland ：

a metaverse owned and created by its users.

用家擁有嘅創作元宇宙

唔淨只得我哋

And we are not the only ones.

For example, on Demat, an NFT marketplace,

例如喺 Demat 非同質化代幣市場

fashion brands are selling authenticated digital fashion items

有賣緊認證嘅數位時裝產品

that are usually sold out as soon as they are released.

佢哋通常一發佈就好快賣晒

And as it was for me,

對我同對好多人

the games are becoming a gateway to digital fashion for many.

遊戲係通往數位時裝嘅途徑

The biggest names in the luxury segment are eagerly trying to enter this space.

名牌奢侈品正係 急切試圖進入呢個市場

Balenciaga has collaborated with Fortnite,

Balenciaga 同 Fortnite 合作過

and Gucci bag was sold inside Roblox for more than its worth in real life.

曾經喺 Roblox 賣出比現實更值錢嘅 Gucci 袋

Fortnite itself has sold more than two billion worth of skins and game extras

Fortnite 賣出超過 20 億美元皮膚同遊戲獎勵內容

for in-game character dressing.

用喺遊戲角色嘅裝扮

但認為創造數位時裝又快又容易 就係一種錯覺

But it's a misconception that creating digital fashion is quick and easy.

We often have to play by the same rules as in real-life physical fashion.

我哋其實成日都要跟返實體時裝嘅規矩

Think back to a time when there were no computers

試想下冇電腦嘅年代

and people were making posters by hand.

用人手整出啲海報

When the software like Adobe Photoshop finally arrived,

當類似 Adobe Photoshop 軟件面世後

they thought making posters is going to be so much quicker and easier.

佢哋覺得整張海報 會又快又容易

But obviously that wasn't true

但係好明顯係唔啱啦﹗

because technology just replaced outdated principles with new possibilities.

由於科技係提供新嘅可能性 同取代過時嘅準則

So instead of doing most of the development in the physical space,

仲代替咗喺實體空間嘅大部分開發

we do it in front of our screens.

我哋揀咗用電腦做

The process is the same, just the tools are different.

過程都係一樣 只係用唔同嘅工具

And in the end,

到最後

everything falls back to a complexity of a piece or a concept.

所有嘢都去返錯綜複雜 一個拼合或者概念

For example,

例如

there's a huge difference in creating a basic T-shirt

唔理用咩方法 整件基本 T 恤

or a couture-like dress, regardless of the medium.

同高級連身裙 都存在好大分別

And the digital realm somehow forces you to go into that exploratory direction.

數位時裝某程度迫使你探索更多

Because do you even need a physical T-shirt in a virtual space?

你喺虛擬空間度 仲需要實體 T 恤咩？

你可借助數位時裝 用最純粹形式體驗時裝

With digital fashion, you can experience fashion in its purest form,

devoid of functional barriers.

冇任何功能性嘅障礙

You don't need your sleeves there.

你唔需要兩隻袖

You don't even need your hands.

甚至唔需要你啲手

Digital fashion is not an alternative but an evolutionary step.

數位時裝唔係代替品 係革命性嘅進步

And we are currently at the beginning of this new era.

我哋依家開始緊嘅新時代

An era where digital garments could become an added layer to our reality,

數位服裝將會增添咗 現實服裝嘅層次

where you will be able to instantly choose to whom you want to present yourself

你即時可選擇 將佢 show 俾邊啲人睇

wearing multiple different outfits at the same time

喺同一時間著唔同嘅衫

and using most advanced technology, like AR or VR for example.

同埋用最先進嘅科技 好似係擴增實境又或者係虛擬實境

And not only does it allow for self-expression

佢唔單止可以喺唔同環境度表現自己

in totally different contexts,

but digital fashion can be zero-waste and inclusive, available to users,

係零浪費同可以包容所有用戶

regardless of their gender, size or race.

唔論佢哋咩性別 身形同種族

I come from Croatia,

我嚟自克羅地亞：

a country that is nowhere on the fashion map,

完全唔喺時裝地圖入面

yet my company is considered one of the pioneers of this field.

但係我公司被認為係時裝界嘅先峰

When we started, we were among the few doing it.

當我哋開始時 係頭幾間嘅開創公司

And since then,

嗰陣時，圍繞我哋 出現咗全新不斷發展嘅

a whole new evolving market has grown around it.

數位時裝市場 將會變得好龐大

Digital fashion market is going to be huge.

But from my experience, no one knows how far it could go.

但係從我嘅經驗嚟睇 冇人知道會變得有幾大

It's fairly simple.

答案好簡單

Technology usually grows exponentially, and so will our virtual presence.

科技通常幾可級增長 虛擬世界亦都係一樣

總要有人幫虛擬人物著衫㗎﹗

And someone has to dress these people.

Thank you.

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