Mark Zuckerburg announces Meta and Balenciaga collaboration

While the Metaverse doesn’t really exist yet, Mark Zuckerberg has been devising a plan to sell users designer clothing for their online avatars. Meta announced that it’s opening an Avatars Store where users can purchase outfits for their avatars on Facebook, Instagram and Messenger.

The new looks include designer pieces from Balenciaga, Prada and Thom Browne and the company expects to add more designers over time. Zuckerberg and Eva Chen, Meta’s VP of Fashion Partnerships, announced the new store on an Instagram Live they described as the “first live avatar fashion show.” The “fashion show” portion consisted of Chen holding up paper drawings of Zuckerberg’s avatar wearing increasingly questionable outfits.

“I think the only question is am I cool enough to wear that,” Zuckerberg asked at one point after seeing a Balenciaga-clad Zuck-atar. “I’m not sure if I’m quite up to that.” Chen also showed Zuckerberg a Thom Browne look she described as a “classic English schoolboy kind of vibe” that was remarkably questionable. 

As to why Facebook users would pay actual money for metaverse clothes, Chen pointed out that it will be much easier to get your hands on, say, an oversized Balenciaga hoodie in the metaverse than IRL. It will also be cheaper, with prices in the Avatars Store ranging from $2.99 to $8.99 “to start,” according to a company spokesperson.