The British Fashion Council (BFC) has announced a brand new category as part of The Fashion Awards 2021—the first ever Fashion Award for Metaverse Design exclusively with Roblox and its first winner, cSapphire. This new award recognises a digital designer who pushes the boundaries and showcases excellence in digital fashion design within the metaverse. Five digital fashion creators from the Roblox community were shortlisted for the Award by Roblox’s developers and creators. Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele, will make an appearance as an avatar to present the award in The Fashion Awards experience on Roblox.
The five nominees were: cSapphire, GENKROCO, inkwaves, Reverse_Polarity, Sparklings.
cSapphire was chosen by a judging panel made up of BFC chief executive Caroline Rush, supermodel and entrepreneur Karlie Kloss, Highsnobiety editorial director Christopher Morency, Dazed Fashion features director Emma Davidson, and W Magazine editor-in-chief Sara Moonves.
To celebrate the launch of the award, the BFC has created an immersive experience on Roblox which offers fashion fans from all over the world the opportunity to be part of its iconic annual event that gathers some of the most influential fashion insiders, designers, innovators and celebrities. The experience instantly transports visitors into the iconic Royal Albert Hall where they can enjoy one of the world’s biggest celebrations of fashion in a new and unique way, walking the virtual red carpet together with their friends, exploring nominees’ displays and trying on their virtual items, as well as watching Awards video footage. The Fashion Awards immersive experience on Roblox is available on the platform starting 29 November and until 7 December 2021.
Visitors to The Fashion Awards experience on Roblox will also be able to purchase a range of digital items created exclusively for this event by Gucci. Proceeds from these items’ sales will be donated to the BFC Foundation, the charity that supports the future growth and success of the British fashion industry by focusing on education, grant-giving and mentoring.
BFC chief executive Caroline Rush commented: “As we continue to reposition The Fashion Awards as a global entertainment platform, we are so excited to announce this project with Roblox. By awarding the platform’s creators we are recognising the powerful global impact of digital fashion on communities around the world, its ability to create new trends in fashion, as well as the incredible opportunities it provides for talented young creators. I was blown away by the work, and creativity of all the nominees and am looking forward to exploring The Fashion Awards experience in the metaverse.”
Roblox VP of global brand partnerships Christina Wootton said: “The next generation of designers are dressing avatars, and they are doing it on Roblox where anyone can be a creator, starting with their own digital identity. Fashion is about what’s next and finding new voices with clear visions, and this talent is emerging in the metaverse. It is the global creative space for designers who are bringing limitless self-expression opportunities to people around the world, setting new trends that are starting to move into real life, and sharing their expertise with top brands. This recognition from a powerful fashion institution declares loud and clear that this is the space to watch for future fashion trends and talent.”
The Fashion Awards is a fundraiser for the BFC Foundation which supports the future growth and success of the British fashion industry by focusing on Talent, Education, Grant-Giving and Business Mentoring and aims to improve equality and opportunity so that the fashion industry remains diverse and open to all, helping talented designers at all stages of their career from school level through to becoming a global fashion brand. In 2020/21, the BFC raised £1.7 million for the BFC Foundation, and its talent support initiatives and this year the charity supported 33 designers.
Roblox’s Bloxy Academy is a committee consisting of Roblox community developers and content creators who annually nominate and vote on Bloxy Awards, Roblox’s own awards celebrating top developers on the platform.
