Valentino and Farfetch revolutionize online shopping

A major obstacle in online shopping for luxury brands is the inability to try on clothes. The high prices of luxury items can also be a deterrent if customers are not certain about the fit. To address this, Valentino, in partnership with the platform Farfetch and its subsidiary Wanna, has developed a sophisticated virtual try-on application equipped with algorithms capable of rivaling the experience of a real fitting.

Farfetch's subsidiary, Wanna, works in the field of augmented reality in the fashion industry with the goal of offering customers new immersive tailor-made experiences. The demo application used for the virtual fitting pilot project is called "Virtual Try On" and allows buyers to explore different combinations of colors, accessories, and styles to create personalized looks. Currently, the application focuses on an autumn 2023 men's collection by the Italian designer, "Urban Flows Fall 2023," by Valentino.

This initiative is part of the fashion house's strategy of refocusing on menswear. After exclusively presenting gender-fluid collections for three consecutive years, Valentino returned to Milan by opening Milan Men's Fashion Week four days ago. In doing so, the brand reinforces its ties with the Italian capital of fashion, which was once overshadowed by Parisian shows.

The brand is performing well financially, with a revenue of 1.419 billion euros last year, representing a 15% increase compared to the previous year. Since Pierpaolo Piccioli took over as creative director, the fashion house has focused on its distribution network, significantly reducing the number of multi-brand stores in favor of a careful selection of company-owned boutiques. This strategy has paid off, with a 21% increase in sales in these boutiques over the year.

The availability of virtual try-on is also expected to boost commerce online. Wanna CEO Sergey Arkhangelskiy told the press, "This is a second-generation VTO experience, designed exclusively for e-commerce, highly realistic, and intended for luxury brands." The Wanna executive also explained that "the algorithms enable a high level of realism, both for textures and materials." The Wanna Wear application is available for free download on the App Store.