Fashion designer creates outfit for Fortnite concert

A fashion designer who created a fully digital look for an emerging pop singer in the video game Fortnite has described it as an “amazing opportunity”.

Holly New, who recently completed a master’s degree in Digital Fashion Innovation at Arts University Bournemouth, designed a custom outfit for singer NØELLE to wear during an immersive concert inside the game.

Ms New told the BBC designing clothes in Virtual Reality (VR) had turned out to be “more exciting” than ordinary fashion.

“I’m the world’s first VR fashion designer which is a super exciting place to be in,” she said.

Fortnite is hugely popular with about 400 million registered players.

The shooting and building game has multiple game modes, with its online battle royale its most popular feature.

Acts such as Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, Metallica, and Travis Scott have played virtual concerts in the game, where characters can move around the space to view the shows.

Players of Fortnite attended the NØELLE concerts via a code released earlier this month.

As part of the VR fashion design process, Ms New draws over 3D avatars of her subjects in the digital space.

“It doesn’t exist in the physical world,” she explained.

“It opens up so many opportunities. Not only is it faster to design, it’s more collaborative and it reduces waste in terms of sampling and how you’re designing and saving fabric.”

She said Copper Candle, a company that produces virtual theatre and live events in Fortnite, contacted her to “create something completely unique”.

She said: “They approached me to make this amazing outfit and get it game ready.”

“We’re bringing on more artists as we speak… I would love to really push the world of digital gaming and fashion and VR because I think it all really comes together under one umbrella.

“I’m basically making it my mission to make VR fashion industry-wide.”