DressX Designs virtual clothing for Social Media. DressX In 2020, a startup was launched in the USA by two Ukrainians – Daria Shapovalova and Natalia Modenova.
DressX in a new brand for digital fashion. Their clothes exist only in the online space. The revolutionary brand focuses on important issues such as the Influencer culture and the waste of limited resources and materials.
According to Daria Shapovalova, the lockdown inspired her to create such a store. Then it became clear that consumer interest in physical spaces was being lost.
At that moment we realized that we need to do the same experience, only exclusively online. So we came up with the idea of making digital clothes without additional iterations.
Daria Shapovalova
In addition, the Daria also noticed that in recent years, consumers often buy clothes only to create content on social networks.
There is a statistic that says that 9% of buyers in developed countries such as the UK, for example, buy an item in order to take a photo in it and post on Instagram, Facebook, etc. Thus, we wanted to remove all additional iterations and simplify the process to three steps: buy a digital item, attach it to a photo and post it.
Daria Shapovalova
Showcasing virtual garments from a range of contemporary brands and 3D designers, the retailer describes itself as offering ‘clothing made for content’. Among its collections are virtual dresses, suits and streetwear priced from £23, as well as bespoke designs. Once a customer has purchased their digital garment, the Dress-X team overlays it to their chosen photograph. The platform is placing a particular focus on targeting influencers in order to eliminate the waste associated with sending them real items of clothing.
Photo: DRESSX
In order to buy online clothes, you need to go to the site, upload your photo, choose a style and pay. The photo should be of good quality, with good lighting and no harsh shadows. Then you need to wait up to 3 days until the item is made.
The creators assure that digital clothing is suitable for any figure, because it is inclusive. The store presents both things that exist only in the electronic version, and those items of clothing that have real prototypes. The average cost of the product is $50. There are samples for both $30 and $120.
Photo: DRESSX
Photo: DRESSX
In July 2021 @dressx has raised $2 million in a priced Seed round. The main investors in it were The Artemis Fund and Alpha Edison and Unlock Venture Partners, One Way Ventures, TLF Ventures, Startup Mavericks, and Signal Peak Ventures. The startup team plans to spend the funds raised on scaling and developing sales through different channels.
“The possibilities digital fashion brings for creative expression are endless, making the digital fashion realm very appealing for both 3D and traditional fashion brands. Digital fashion is an opportunity to give a second life to clothes that are absolutely unsuited for being worn in our daily lives – young designers’ graduate collections, some high-fashion or couture designs” said Natalia Modenova
Another problem the startup is trying to solve is overproduction of clothing and environmental protection. When creating a virtual thing, only 0.312 kg of CO2 gets into the atmosphere, as opposed to 6.5 kg in the manufacture of one basic white T-shirt. Also, 1% of the sales of DressX’s clothing is donated to No More Plastic.