Despite articles predicting its demise, the metaverse in't dead... At least not for the giants of luxury, fashion and beauty. For proof, look no further than to L'Oréal, which has launched its very first virtual looks, in partnership with Ready Player Me, for avatars more spiffed up than ever.
With their numerous tools and services designed to improve consumers' beauty routines, the L'Oréal group's brands have been embracing the possibilities offered by the digital realm for quite some time. But now they're continuing their foray into the metaverse, not with new NFTs, but with virtual looks. The result of a partnership with Ready Player Me, a cross-game avatar design studio, these makeup and hair looks are exclusively created to be used with avatars... and they are compatible with no less than 4,000 platforms and applications around the world.
"We believe that the future of beauty will be physical, digital and virtual. Our brands are creating new, immersive, and virtual experiences using virtual spaces, in-game customized experiences, in-virtual world advertising and virtual ambassadors and influencers. We are very excited to lay the foundations for the future of beauty on Web3 and the metaverse,” outlined Asmita Dubey, Chief Digital & Marketing Officer of the L’Oréal Group.
For these initial looks, two of the cosmetics giant's brands, Maybelline New York and L'Oréal Professionnel, are now each offering five makeup and hair looks, respectively, created by makeup artists, hairdressers and 3D artists, one of whom is Evan Rochette, an expert in 3D design and development. The initiative is an opportunity for the brand to extend its experience in the metaverse a little further and to better understand consumer behavior in terms of virtual beauty.
"With more than three billion global gamers, our approach is to explore new beauty codes, while making the experience more accessible and inclusive. Through creativity, technology and L’Oréal’s beauty expertise, we aim to offer a space for self-expression that reflects the diversity of our world beyond "physical”,” explained Camille Kroely, Chief Metaverse3 Officer of the L’Oréal Group. – AFP Relaxnews