The Psychology of Virtual vs IRL

If you’re even tangentially into fashion, then you’ve seen the digital rendering of Anifa M’s designs for her label, Hanifa. Watching her clothes glide across your screen, you can’t help but pause to consider how virtual fashion shows are a new frontier; waiting to be elevated with novelty and innovation. Whereas, IRL fashion shows are limited to their inherent restrictions that pressure designers to create entire collections every season and haul their attendees across the globe to sit (or stand) for mere minutes while watching the work go by. These factors make logging-on sound a lot less hindering, but before we untether ourselves to the idea of IRL fashion shows, let’s review how the virtual versus physical experiences impact the attendees ability to work, by using neuro- and cyberpsychology research findings on how going digital impacts the brain.

Consider fashion shows continuing on in the virtual world from this point forward. For the industry, it would mean staring at screens for longer, using private-chat functions in lieu of front row whispers, wearing blue light blocking glasses instead of designer eyewear and attending meetings and events via video calls. This type of social interaction is something we’ve had to adapt to in the past couple of months on account of self isolating. It’s now a mode of communication we’re quite familiarized with, so much so that cyberpsychology researchers have already amassed a wealth of information, pointing to the negative effects video calls are having on our psyche. Most notably being the rise of “Zoom fatigue”, which is an experience marked by the rising rates of people who have reported extreme exhaustion after video calls. The findings of the research have shown that this phenomenon is caused by our brains essentially having to work overtime to try and make up for all the aspects of communication that are lost during video calls. These lost communication factors are mostly the non-verbal cues that underpin a successful human interaction, which most of us don’t even consciously think about when we’re engaging with one another in real life.

Even if we don’t notice ourselves searching for nonverbal cues during video calls, our brains are undergoing all of the psychological strain to see if someone’s arm’s are crossing in disapproval, if their brows are furrowing in confusion or if their shoulders are shrugging in a “no big deal” fashion from the inside of tiny boxes on our computer or phone screens; resulting in many people over-exerting themselves in conversations to compensate for the lack of readability. That’s only amplified if you’re having network problems or if your video call is one big audio lag. When you put these drawbacks into the perspective of fashion week, which is typically filled with events, small gatherings and official meetings, that’s eight weeks per year, almost two months, dedicated to this type of strain-filled screentime alone. Not to mention that the industry is highly reliant on networking, connections and human relationships, which puts new entrants at a disadvantage. Never having had the opportunity to introduce themselves at a party, show, or dinner, the new generation is limited to cold emails, hoping to get a Zoom call. How likely is it that they’d actually get one without that initial, valuable IRL energy exchange?

 The fashion industry’s means for a digital alternative isn’t new. Virtual fashion shows have been accessible since the early 2010s, but didn’t gain popularity until the late twentyteens. With lockdown, they’ve become a necessity and an opportunity for brands to show their customers how truly innovative they can be. Research shows that we respond well to novelty, in fact, our brains release dopamine, the chemical associated with happiness and reward, when we’re presented with images we’ve never seen before. And with so much opportunity to do something new digitally, brands could really seize this moment and try out something new, like mail VR headsets to their attendees or reveal their collections in a VR world. The culture of digital fashion week is still a fledgling at most, it’s the time to be experimental and figure out what works for a brand in that space. Whereas the traditional, IRL, fashion week has already cultivated a rich micro-culture of creativity, high energy and street style, which would dulled, if not diminished, if we all had to log-on to attend. This points to an emotional expense of going completely virtual that many in the industry won’t want to shoulder. 

Dolce & Gabbana’s Fall 2015 Alta Moda collection, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” was held in a glade overlooking Portofino’s bay. (Photograph by Luca Locatelli / Institute for The New Yorker)

Conversely, fashion shows are significantly expensive, and going virtual would mean cutting upward of “$200,000 to over $1 million” per show for brands, according to an estimate by the McKinsey Report in Forbes. And as alluring as that may be, it presents the unique challenge of building anticipation and buzz around a virtual show that’s comparable to an IRL show - which is felt from the instant an attendee receives an invitation to the dimming of the lights on the runway. For many in fashion, it’s being connected with the energy in the room, hearing the music, seeing who is in attendance and how the clothes look in person that make it possible to capture the season’s mood. It’s these critical moments that may, for some brands and creatives, prove to be too difficult to recreate virtually.

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“The industry is highly reliant on networking, connections and human relationships, which puts new entrants at a disadvantage. Never having had the opportunity to introduce themselves at a party, show, or dinner, the new generation is limited to cold emails, hoping to get a Zoom call. How likely is it that they’d actually get one without that initial, valuable IRL energy exchange?”

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If the required migration onto online spaces has shown us anything, it’s that people can adapt to change. Even the fashion industry, which has been historically slow to move into online spaces, has fully made a digital transition this month for London Fashion Week. However, the lack of actual clothing produced for the event re-centered LFW around sharing art and video content. It’s because of this that some of the newer designers really thrived this season and will probably continue to excel online, since creating shareable, digital content has proven to be natural for millennial and Gen Z designers. It’s possible that bigger luxury brands will opt for online shows in the future, but it’s more than likely that they’ll want to hang onto the advertising buzz that IRL fashion week grants them. As for the attendees, it is to be anticipated that many will want to replace their Zoom fatigue with jet-lag again, as the latter holds the promise of livening social interaction with people in a showroom, backstage, or over a good old-fashioned drink. All things considered, it’s plausible that we’ll see a hybrid of both digital and IRL fashion shows in the future. Hopefully, this mix will offer something for fans of the above-the-keyboad dress code, and the pavement-stomping street style aficionados, alike.

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