Meta unveils Avatars Store, where users can buy digital clothes for avatars, and plans to make it a marketplace where developers can create and sell clothing

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced today that the company is launching a digital designer clothing store called the “Meta Avatars Store.”

TechCrunch 2022-06-19 Aisha Malik

Context & Ripple Effects

Meta had already expanded 3D avatars across Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram Stories, giving the company a shared identity layer before introducing paid digital clothing. The store turns that avatar work into a direct commerce surface.

The move also aligns with Meta's metaverse-monetization patent activity, including a virtual-store concept, while related coverage characterized Meta as catching up to platforms with more established metaverse-like experiences.

First-order effects

Meta gains a storefront for digital apparel, while users gain a way to customize avatars with paid designer items.
Meta's plan to let developers create and sell clothing creates a prospective new seller channel around its avatar system.

Second-order effects

Developers and fashion partners must weigh Meta's audience reach against the platform's yet-to-be-defined marketplace terms and control over avatar distribution.
Platforms such as Roblox, Steam VR, and VRChat face a more direct attempt by Meta to compete for avatar customization and digital-goods spending.

Third-order effects

If Meta carries the store across its social apps and virtual-world products, avatars can become a persistent commerce identity rather than a feature confined to a single app.
The model points toward platform-governed digital fashion markets, where access to an avatar standard determines which creators can reach users.

The trend: Social platforms are turning interoperable-looking avatar systems into marketplaces for identity-based digital goods.

Discussion

@metanewsroom @metanewsroom on x
Need a fresh fit for your avatar? We're launching our Avatars Store on Facebook, Instagram and Messenger so you can buy digital clothes. Mark Zuckerberg and @evachen212 tried out new looks from @BALENCIAGA @Prada @ThomBrowne ✨ https://www.instagram.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@ummjackson Jackson Palmer on x
lmao @ everything about this. https://twitter.com/...
@ummjackson Jackson Palmer on x
the Metaverse is going great. [Video snippet of Mark Zuckerberg and Eva Chen discussing Avatars Store outfits]
@maxasteele Max Steele on x
Finally I can buy digital clothes for my Mark Zuckerberg avatar!! The metaverse is everything I hoped for!!! https://twitter.com/...
@seldo Laurie Voss on x
I saw the greatest minds of my generation failing to come up with a better monetization strategy than @keithkurson came up with 20 years ago https://twitter.com/...
@silvermanjacob Jacob Silverman on x
Gonna spend $10k on digital clothes because the most robotic tech mogul alive convinced me in a video https://twitter.com/...
@ummjackson Jackson Palmer on x
Unless “the Metaverse” leaves VR and comes to phones and laptops/desktops soon, it's just not happening. Meta have sold 10M Quest 2 headsets, which may sound impressive. But that's less than 1% of PC gamers and a fraction of a percent of smart phone users.
@meta @meta on x
Can't wait for Friday @BALENCIAGA
@angelofuture @angelofuture on x
demna just trying to see how far the fashion world will stretch to adopt the next fashion in-joke, no matter how distasteful maybe his goal is to reflect our mimetic insanity back to us until we actually think for ourselves https://twitter.com/...
@drewcoffman @drewcoffman on x
this is the future that people fighting against web3 are signing themselves up for https://twitter.com/...
@nssmag @nssmag on x
Is Meta anticipating the collaboration with @BALENCIAGA ? After @Meta's presentation a few months ago, #Demna's brand anticipated a possible four-handed project with @MarkZuc40333252's company, but what will it be? An #NFT and a capsule, let us know your guesses. #Web3 #NFTs http…
@hipcityreg @hipcityreg on x
ummmmmmmmmmm https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@thenickwalsh Nick Walsh on x
Xbox Live from the 360 era called, they want their avatars back https://twitter.com/...
@liahaberman Lia Haberman on x
@iamsophiegray I just can't buy something designer that I can't actually hold. Like, I love the internet but I don't love it enough to have my best looks there 🤷🏻‍♀ ️
@itsliran Liran Cohen on x
@ummjackson The Quest and Quest 2 are great... But they're not an all out replacement for video games. Especially since many of us get intense motion sickness from FPS games in VR. The ‘Metaverse’ is a grift.... Just a new name on player accounts 🤣
@tajocrypto @tajocrypto on x
@WatcherGuru Meta is launching a fashion metaverse store and they partnered with Balenciaga, Prada, and Tom Brown so as to celebrate the launch. The feature is to be made available on Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger months to come. The new feature sounds good. Let's see how it…
@maghanmcd Maghan McDowell on x
More lewks from @Prada @BALENCIAGA and @ThomBrowne that one will soon be able to buy courtesy of Meta. https://twitter.com/...
@glowsteeze @glowsteeze on x
We moved past this after the xbox360. They are legit 9 years late. https://twitter.com/...
@maghanmcd Maghan McDowell on x
In the broadcast, Mark jokes with @evachen212 that he might start wearing suiting because it's more comfortable in the metaverse. https://twitter.com/...
@stockunit @stockunit on x
@ummjackson As a 40+ year gamer, I don't think “the Metaverse” resonates with gamers. The “Metaverse” to me seems more like a re-skinned social media platform than anything game related. Even the games (esp play to earn) are awful compared to what the average gamer expects
@coreykindberg @coreykindberg on x
get a job!! stay away from her. https://twitter.com/...
@damedoteth @damedoteth on x
same energy [Image of Edna Mode]
@ummjackson Jackson Palmer on x
Recommend watching this video which explains the massive limitations of VR. VRChat does have a “desktop mode” which I tried out recently sans headset. It felt super clunky and just like a slightly more polished version of Second Life from 15 years ago. https://www.youtube.com/...
@seyitaylor @seyitaylor on x
Demna, my brother in Christ, please stop https://twitter.com/...
@michaelzimmer Michael Zimmer on x
No. https://twitter.com/...
@conor64 Conor Friedersdorf on x
And that's how the Meta story ends: in a highly exclusive virtual retirement home where Mark Zuckerberg and his former Harvard classmates rate the hotness of one another's couture-clad avatars. https://twitter.com/...
@matt_on_tech Matthew S. Smith on x
TBH buying digital fashion is like, the most normal thing. The question is whether Meta has a platform where people care enough about their avatar to do it. That's... still rather unclear. https://techcrunch.com/...
@dinafierro_ Dina Fierro on x
Newly announced: the first three brands to partner with @Meta on avatar fashion: @BALENCIAGA @Prada and @ThomBrowne #Web3 https://twitter.com/...
@keithdsouza Keith on x
Yes, please make stores to buy unwanted things that every parent is going to file a lawsuit against. https://twitter.com/...
@ummjackson Jackson Palmer on x
Is this enough to save the big bet that is “Metaverse”? In my opinion, no... unless Meta begin shipping a popular video game like Fortnite or Roblox which quickly become their closest competitors if they shift to phone + desktop.
@meat__hook @meat__hook on x
Why do they look so shit? Not even talking about the ugly clothes but these look worse than the ugly avatars you could make on the 360 https://twitter.com/...
@ummjackson Jackson Palmer on x
There are a lot of smart people at Meta, so I think they recognize this. I assume it's why they've added those cringey avatars to Instagram that look like Xbox Live avatars from literally a decade ago. I would anticipate a way to “use” those avatars in IG, FB, etc. soon.
@realtorstarshar Sharmila H. Viswasam💫 on x
$META news! They are making clothing for their avatars says Zuck on fb live LOL 😂 clothing brand is going to be Prada, Balenciaga etc etc. the bears 🐻 are going to have fun with this one.
@shiringhaffary Shirin Ghaffary on x
The latest in Meta's push to monetize the metaverse https://twitter.com/...
@_cingraham Christopher Ingraham on x
why does Mark look like the boss baby https://twitter.com/...
@sandeepnailwal @sandeepnailwal on x
Amongst all Web2 companies @Meta seems to be doing the most pioneering stuff! https://twitter.com/...

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