South Korea's SwatchOn launches digital fashion marketplace VMOD

VMOD creates the ability to purchase interconnected digital and physical goods from both emerging and well-known fashion brands. With a mission to empower fashion brands across the globe to create without limits, VMOD aims to dismantle the barrier of conventional fashion and bring brands to life in new and exciting ways, the company said in a press release.

To meet young consumers where they are, the platform will enrich the experience of purchasing and owning garments across several verticals including AR wearables, physical twin, virtual looks,  metaverse wearables, and more. Over time, SwatchOn and VMOD will work together to build an IRL to URL vertical for fashion production – from sourcing materials to producing and distributing garments.

The founders of VMOD are focused on championing fashion and culture through storytelling and by serving a global community of diverse creators and collectors from a wide range of backgrounds. For the launch, VMOD features Annaiss Yucra, a third-generation artisan and indigenous Peruvian designer who highlights local traditions, textiles, and artisans; and San Kim, a University of Westminster MA Menswear graduate, whose avant garde designs are a fantastical interpretation of society around him.

“We’re thrilled to make VMOD a reality and to be launching with such stand-out emerging designers like Annaiss Yucra and San Kim. This platform is proof that fashion extends beyond IRL designs and can be applied across many different novel and ground-breaking applications. This is just the beginning of what we plan to accomplish,” Will Lee, co-founder, and CEO of SwatchOn and VMOD, said in a statement.

“To me, the fashion industry and the catwalk can be a space where people really want to listen. And we can start a deeper conversation about what's really happening in the world, happening all around us. Every time that I start a collection, I want to see a representation of this – I think about the social issues going on in my society; I think about the things that have affected my family; I think about my own legacy and how to communicate that in my work. As a founding designer on VMOD, that conversation and my designs can reach new heights, and new audiences,” Yucra, said.

“Fashion for me is a visual language, interpreting the world around me in order to communicate a message that resonates with everyday people. Connecting my real-life designs with digital versions through VMOD only helps to reverberate the intended message even further – it becomes additive,” Kim, said.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (GK)