Like many of us in the pandemic age, Collina Strada designer Hillary Taymour spent much of the last year in the digital world.
The designer was at the forefront of the fashion world’s embrace of all things digital, including gaming and the metaverse. She followed up her fully-interactive, five-level video game designed as part of Gucci’s Guccifest digital event in November 2020 with even more metaverse collaborations in 2021. In April, Taymour became one of the first designers to create a collection for online metaverse IMVU. She followed that by participating in the platform’s first in-game runway show, in May.
Taymour is an infrequent collaborator with other companies and was selective about which digital worlds she invested her time in.
“The criteria is that I want to have a big budget to work with and have full creative control to make sure we’re able to achieve what we’re actually trying to achieve,” Taymour said.
As the idea of metaverses continues to make headlines, fashion has been looking for inroads into this new world. Taymour’s work in the space — consistently engaging, befitting the brand and inclusive of real-world elements — is a good example of how fashion can do just that.
However, her next big project is decidedly analog, in comparison. “We’re working on a Collina book,” Taymour said.
As for her other future ventures, she said, “I’m working on making sure we’re in all the categories. I definitely want to be in shoes and accessories.”
