Dentsu Launches First “Digital Fashion Program” Using Roblox in Japan, in Collaboration with Bunka Fashion College

－ Promoting creator cultivation and career support in the rapidly expanding digital fashion market －

Dentsu Group Inc. (Headquarters: Dentsu Group Inc.; Head Office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President & Global CEO: Hiroshi Igarashi; hereinafter referred to as “the Company”) today announced that it has collaborated with Bunka Fashion College (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; School President: Sachiko Aihara) to launch a “Digital Fashion Program” (hereinafter referred to as “the Program”) in October 2024 utilizing Roblox, an immersive social platform provided with official support by Roblox Corporation^*1 (Headquarters: California, USA; Co-Founder and CEO: David Baszucki). The Program is the first of its kind in Japan to be officially supported by Roblox Corporation. Aiming to cultivate creators and promote career support in the rapidly expanding digital fashion market, the Program is offered as one of the collaboration classes provided by companies during the second semester (October 2024 to February 2025) of the Virtual Fashion Course newly established by Bunka Fashion College in April 2024, in cooperation with the Company and GeekOut Inc.^*2, which develops content for Roblox.

In June 2023, the Company and Roblox entered into a global partnership (Roblox Partner Program)^*3, and have been promoting comprehensive content development and operational support for Roblox in both the Japanese and overseas markets. As part of the recently announced “House of Creators” initiative^*4, the Program aims to cultivate the next generation of digital fashion designers with Roblox’s official support, with “creator acceleration” as its goal.

Digital fashion on Roblox (concept)

The digital fashion market is undergoing rapid growth, and in the second quarter of 2024, 18 million users visit the Roblox marketplace (a shopping website where avatar items can be bought and sold) daily^*5. A survey released by Roblox in November 2023 revealed that virtual fashion and self-expression are important for many members of Gen Z who have been socially raised on virtual reality platforms like Roblox^*6. Fashion and luxury brands are entering the emerging market one after another, with certain brands announcing virtual collections in the metaverse. On Roblox, where players frequently enjoy changing the clothes and accessories of their avatars, not just game developers but also digital fashion creators have been making a remarkable impact, with “digital fashion designer” garnering attention as a brand new career opportunity. Digital fashion is attracting particular interest from members of Gen Z, who tend to be highly conscious of sustainability, because it does not involve processes such as manufacturing, transportation, or disposal.

Amidst these developments, the growing demand for designers who can create digital fashion has resulted in a shortage of designers with both the necessary digital experience and knowledge of real fashion, such as design and patterning, necessitating a new method to cultivate such creators.

Thus, in collaboration with Bunka Fashion College, the Company has begun to offer Japan's first digital fashion program, with the aim of cultivating new digital fashion designers and supporting their career opportunities. This is the second initiative of its kind, following the world's first digital fashion program launched by Roblox and the Parsons School of Design (based in New York City) in 2023^*7, and the first program in Japan to receive official support from Roblox. Students from Bunka Fashion College who participate in the Program will be able to study the fashion production process in a digital environment using Roblox, and will also be involved in sales and distribution on the platform. In addition, the Program will support the development of business skills through classes on production processes, distribution and market sales. Furthermore, it will contribute to the cultivation of fashion designers capable of working across the boundaries of virtual reality and real life by creating and reproducing digital fashion created on Roblox as real works and setting up actual gallery exhibitions with assistance from various corporate partners.

The Company will continue to expand its collaboration with client and partner companies in order to provide greater learning opportunities for students who will lead the next generation in the digital fashion market and the new 3D social media, including the metaverse and gaming. By supporting creators’ career paths after graduation, the Company will contribute to the development of human capital for world-leading digital fashion designers.

*1: About Bunka Fashion College: Since being accredited as Japan's first school for fashion education, Bunka Fashion College has played a central role in fashion education in Japan, celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2023. The school’s graduates have gone on to take leading roles in the fashion industry, including as designers active within and outside Japan, creators and stylists at the forefront of fashion, buyers, and press. The more than 300,000 alumni of Bunka Fashion College have helped raise Japanese fashion to the world's top standard and continue to play an active role at the forefront of the industry.
URL: https://www.bunka-fc.ac.jp/en/

*2: The Dentsu Group has concluded a partnership agreement with Roblox.
URL: https://www.group.dentsu.com/en/news/release/000983.html

*3: GeekOut Inc.: Head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Soichiro Tanaka
GeekOut Inc. provides support for entering the metaverse market in Japan and overseas in collaboration with Roblox, which operates the world's largest immersive social platform, and Roblox World Development Studios. URL: https://geek-out.io/en/

*4: For details of the Partner Program, please see the following release from Roblox.
URL: https://brands.roblox.com/find-a-partner

*5: For details of the “House of Creators” initiative, please see the following release.
URL: https://www.group.dentsu.com/en/news/release/001305.html

*6: Source: Provided by Roblox, Inc.

*7: Source: “2023 Digital Expression, Fashion & Beauty Trends”
URL: https://corp.roblox.com/newsroom/2023/11/insights-latest-digital-expression-fashion-beauty-trends-report

・In a survey of more than 1,500 members of Gen Z, more than half (56%) of respondents said that styling their avatar (a digital representation of the user as a character that can move around the various virtual spaces on Roblox) was more important than styling themselves in the real world.

・84% of the Gen Z members surveyed said that their real-world clothing and outfits are influenced by the style of their digital avatar, and 88% said that expressing themselves in a virtual space leads to increased confidence in expressing themselves in the real world.

*8: For information about Roblox and Parsons School of Design's digital fashion, please see the release issued by Parsons School of Design.
URL: https://www.newschool.edu/pressroom/pressreleases/2022/roblox.htm

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Contacts:
Business inquiries:
Dentsu Innovation Initiative (within Dentsu Group Inc.)
E-mail: innovation-initiative@dentsu.co.jp　

Media inquiries:　
Jumpei Kojima, Akiko Shimadzu, Todor Baev
Group Corporate Communications Office
Dentsu Group Inc.
Email: group-cc@dentsu-group.com