Fashion has been using video games for marketing – what do gamers think?

By Syeda Ali

The fashion industry has been using video games as a way of advertisement and marketing for many
years now. Designer brands such as Louis Vuitton, Prada, Burberry and Moschino have all
collaborated with video games, from collaborations like Final Fantasy X Louis Vuitton to Louis
Vuitton’s X League of Legends, and even Moschino X The Sims.

Not long ago, Louis Vuitton collaborated with League of Legends (LV x LOL) in 2019 for the LOL World
Championship Finals in Paris. League of Legends is a multiplayer online battle arena video game
developed by Riot Games.

This collaboration gained new viewers during the Championship Finals competition. The League of Legends collection was designed by Nicholas Ghesquiere with items ranging from a £120 bandeau to a £4,000 leather jacket.

Eighteen-year-old gamer Vivian Stone said: “The collection looks amazing but it is so expensive. I already
spend enough on games.”

She conveyed her appreciation of how the collection looked but said it was all out of her reach. “I know a lot of people would have their hopes up and want some of the items but realistically they are not affordable at all.”

In addition, the video game Final Fantasy has collaborated with a number of brands such as Louis Vuitton, Prada and Burberry. Final Fantasy is a Japanese anthology science fantasy media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi.

The Louis Vuitton X Final Fantasy collaboration was created in 2016 using game character, Lightning, from the Final Fantasy game in multiple ads of the fictional character holding items from the Louis Vuitton Spring-Summer 2016 collection and posting these through Instagram.

This captured the attention of many fashion and gaming lovers. The clothes and items advertised by this game character were seen by a new set of consumers that would not usually be familiar with fashion.

Using this unique way of promotion, it allows to reach gamers’ attention as they see their favourite games being promoted to a large number of people.

A 19-year-old gamer, Ayesha Ali, said: “I think it is really cool. If it wasn’t advertised with Final Fantasy, I wouldn’t have known about it.”

She described how she really appreciated the collaboration and how it was a smart way to gain gamers’ attention. “The clothes and bags looked sick, especially the pink jacket. That one was my favourite.” Ayesha showed her love for the Louis Vuitton’s X Final Fantasy collaboration, especially the pink leather moto jacket from their Spring
collection.

These collaborations have many people expressing their enthusiasm for this unique way of marketing and how many people are being exposed to the fashion industry.