What: Fashion may be preparing for a future in the metaverse, but retailers still need to attend to today’s business of selling to physical customers, often in physical stores. Selfridges, which has leaned heavily into creating engaging in-store experiences, is now looking to virtual ones as well.

Why it is important: The project is the latest example of how fashion companies and retailers are trying to bridge the divide between the real and digital worlds. Many brands are anticipating a future where they’ll meet more of their customers in video games and other virtual environments.

For the next two weeks, visitors to the designer floor at Selfridges’ London flagship will discover a portal into a virtual city. The space is a pop-up in collaboration with Charli Cohen, a London designer of physical and digital streetwear, and Yahoo Ryot Lab, Yahoo’s content studio. Pokémon also lent its characters to the project in celebration of its 25th anniversary. It’s mostly there, however, to prompt customers to explore “Electric/City,” an immersive virtual environment shoppers can access in the store by scanning a QR code or visit online through a dedicated website. The collaboration also includes an array of products for sale, both physical and virtual.

A screen on a stand offered visitors their first view ofthe virtual world, and on another stand nearby was the QR code shoppers scan to go to the Electric/City site. According to BoF, the in-store space is sparse, and the interactivity between digital and physical can feel limited without help from the store staff guiding customers through the experience. Where the collaboration comes to life is inside Electric/City.

The target audience for the project is all Selfridges’ customers, especially those who may be less familiar with immersive digital worlds. Designers also made sure the environment was accessible on mobile and in a regular browser window, without any sign-up or headset required.

Beyond the products for sale in Selfridges, there are spots in Electric/City where visitors can purchase clothes from the Pokémon tie-up to be delivered to their homes. A separate collection of digital Charli Cohen garments is available for sale inside Electric/City. They’re enabled by ReadyPlayerMe, which lets users create a digital avatar from a selfie to use across more than 300 compatible games and virtual spaces, such as VRChat. They’re also AR-ready. A shopper in Selfridges who buys a digital item and creates an avatar can project it on their phone into the middle of the shop floor.

How Selfridges Is Bringing Virtual Fashion to Stores