How can you make your ‘Fortnite’ crew high fashion?

We know Fortnite as a world of many experiences. Epic Games is teaming up with fashion house Balenciaga to welcome the first-ever high-fashion Fortnite skins into the game. The two companies aren’t just creating digital clothes, though. They’re working together on an in-game Balenciaga-themed hub and real-world clothing line that the player will be able to buy. 

You’ll have four new skins all of which consist of alternate styles. Epic is also looking forward to selling other Balenciaga-themed accessories, including a pickaxe which is based on the Speed Sneaker and Balenciaga backpack back blings. Perhaps, the best part of games is being given the opportunity to take full control. 

The new gear will come in both Fornite’s usual in-game storefront as well as the Balenciaga-themed “Strange Times” Creative hub. It’ll also come with a virtual store where you could purchase cosmetics. We’ll even have access to an in-game animated billboard located above the virtual store featuring the walking dog Doggo in the hoodie. 

That very billboard will be featured in the real world too, in New York City, Seoul, Tokyo and London. If you’re fond of what the hoodie Doggo is wearing, you’ll be able to buy it along with a number of other items such as T-shirts, crew neck shirts, and hats being part of the real-world Fortnite-themed Balenciaga collection. Depending on your location, the clothes will go on sale either Monday or Tuesday!

Epic

Epic wouldn’t be the first video game to join forces with a fashion house. For instance, many folks remember Gucci partnering with Roblox to work on a surreal virtual garden back in May. Louis Vuitton constructed skins for characters in Riot Games’ League of Legends in 2019. Balenciaga composed a video game scheduled to debut in its Fall 2021 collection that was made in Unreal Engine. 

It seems the pairing of Fornite and high-fashion is long overdue given how important digital outfits are to the culture of the game. In an interview with The Verge, president of Epic Games said, “Fortnite is fashion. The entire experience of Fortnite is centered around self expression, player agency, and the ability to live out a fantasy of portraying characters and outfits that people want to wear.”

This partnership between Epic and Balenciaga may also be a glimpse of how Unreal Engine is used to make virtual and real-world experiences in the future. It’s likely we’ll be close to the front lines, witnessing Epic doing similar transmedia pushes for other Fortnite partnerships later on. 

Emily Levy, who works on the partnerships at Epic, says the collaboration is just a start. “I think what’s really special about what we can do with our technology and with our community is create new ways for players to self-express and also new ways for players to experience fashion.” She added that fans are going to continue seeing them explore what those opportunities can look like for the community. 

Fortnite Crew

There’s a new monthly crew pack! It’s an exclusive outfit bundle and it’ll be yours to keep. Special items are now curated for the crew pack monthly. During every month, the crew pack will give us special new outfits plus at least one matching accessory such as a glider, emote, and pickaxe. 

September’s crew pack is featuring the Burning Wolf, the first of The First Shadows. There will also be swords with the Burning Fangs Back Bling, then unveil them as the dual-wield burning fangs pickaxe. 

The first shadows are Midas’ original Three Agents. The other two will be welcomed in October and November’s crew packs. For the players who take advantage of all three of The First Shadows, they’ll get a bonus style for each. 

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Surely, you’re excited about the new Fortnite crews! Share your thoughts in the comments below!