TechnologyJun 13, 2022
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Signet Enters the Metaverse With Banter, DressX Partnership
See how it looked when our editor tried on virtual jewelry via the DressX app.
Banter by Piercing Pagoda is the first Signet Jewelers-owned brand to test the metaverse waters, launching a six-piece jewelry collection on DressX that’s available in both physical and digital form.
Dallas—Signet Jewelers is dipping a virtual toe into the metaverse.
Its banner Banter by Piercing Pagoda has teamed up with digital fashion platform DressX on a jewelry collection with six unique styles.
The collection will straddle the real world and the metaverse, with three styles available only digitally and three styles available in the digital world and at Banter’s stores and online.
The collaboration marks the first time a Signet-owned brand has entered the metaverse.
SEE: Our Editor Dressed Up in Digital Jewels
Its banner Banter by Piercing Pagoda has teamed up with digital fashion platform DressX on a jewelry collection with six unique styles.
The collection will straddle the real world and the metaverse, with three styles available only digitally and three styles available in the digital world and at Banter’s stores and online.
The collaboration marks the first time a Signet-owned brand has entered the metaverse.
SEE: Our Editor Dressed Up in Digital Jewels
Associate Editor Lenore Fedow tried on several looks in the DressX app, like “Bold Gold” and “Virgo Vibes.”
Users can purchase a custom-fit digital image of themselves wearing their favorite look for $40. These are “Charmed Mood” and “Gilded Glam.”
“We are thrilled to partner with DressX to create our first-ever virtual and phygital jewelry collection,” said Kecia Caffie, president of Banter by Piercing Pagoda. “This partnership is one more way we’re meeting our customers where they are and promoting self-expression through fashion.”
DressX operates as a “metacloset” of digital-only clothes, letting users show off their looks via augmented reality. The company also offers NFT fashion items.
Targeting millennial and Gen Z shoppers, DressX aims to capitalize on the call for more sustainable and affordable fashion. It was one of the finalists for a 2022 LVMH Innovation Award in the category 3D/Virtual Product Experience & Metaverse.
The digital-only styles “reimagine what jewelry can be in the digital world,” said Banter.
The “Star Child” collection features celestial jewels and stars adorning the forehead and cheeks while the “Gilded Glam” look highlights small, elegant pieces paired with a bright, bold masquerade-style gem face mask.
The “Ferocious Spirit” showcases animal-inspired styles, giving users tiger stripes, while “Bold Gold” piles on chunky gold chains.
“Charmed Mood” has charms aplenty, from an evil eye to a lion head, while “Virgo Vibes” celebrates the current astrological season.
The styles can be tried on with the help of augmented reality technology in the DressX app.
While trying on styles, shoppers can take pictures or videos of their looks to share on their social channels for free.
Shoppers can then purchase the jewelry digitally and add it to their virtual closet and/or buy select items in physical form.
For $40, customers receive a photo look, meaning they upload an image of themselves and the digital jewelry is custom-fitted to that image so it looks more realistic, rather than like an AR photo filter image.
For customers buying the physical jewelry, prices vary from $25 for sterling silver sun and moon studs to $1,200 for a 10-karat yellow gold and cubic zirconia lion head necklace.
DressX co-founders Daria Shapovalova and Natalia Modenova said the two companies have a shared appreciation for creativity and self-expression.
“We are excited to see Banter exploring the digital realm, and we truly believe that the new virtual layer will only strengthen the brand’s reputation as the innovator in the world of fine jewelry," they said.
Banter has the same hope.
“Collaborating with DressX will help Banter by Piercing Pagoda, and our parent, Signet Jewelers, start our journey to be the brand consumers look to for expressing their unapologetic and daring personal style in the virtual and real worlds,” said Caffie.
The collection is available now through Nov. 13 on the DressX website and its app.
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