Siam Piwat partners with ZEPETO to make a foray into the Metaverse with an integrated real-world/virtual fashion phenomenon
- To advance the Metaverse experience, Siam Piwat has made it a mission to create experiences beyond expectations both in the real and virtual worlds for its robust customer bases across the world.
- In an effort to further strengthen its digital ecosystem, Siam Piwat is joining forces with world-class partner ZEPETO to take Thai fashion to the virtual world for the first time ever.
- The collaboration reinforces Siam Piwat’s position as Thailand’s trendsetter for over half a century and a pioneer who has supported young Thai talents in the fashion industry on their way towards the global stage through the years.
- Customers will enjoy an interactive shopping experience where they can purchase items from the latest runway collections of BIFW 2022 to wear in real life and customize their avatars in the Metaverse at the same time.
Siam Piwat Co., Ltd. – a leading retail and property developer, the owner of world-renowned retail destinations, including Siam Paragon, Siam Center, and Siam Discovery, and a joint venture partner of ICONSIAM and Siam Premium Outlets Bangkok – has taken its digital ecosystem to the next level by partnering with world-class player ZEPETO, which has over 300 million users, in a mission to advance the Metaverse experience and take the Thai fashion industry on a pioneering foray into the virtual world. The collaboration took center stage at Siam Paragon Bangkok International Fashion Week 2022 (BIFW 2022) in the form of an innovative lifestyle phenomenon where customers could shop items from the latest runway collections both to wear in the real world and to customize their avatars with in the Metaverse.
Ms. Chanisa Kaewruen, Head of Corporate Strategy Group of Siam Piwat, says “Delivering experiences beyond expectations to customers is the fundamental strategy that has transformed all shopping centers in Siam Piwat Group into the ultimate destinations for visitors across the globe and earned it robust customer bases both in Thailand and overseas. However, thanks to the ease with which technological advances today can connect people living in different parts of the world to their desired destination, the idea of what constitutes a community has increasingly shifted from an actual space in the real world to a virtual space. As such, Siam Piwat has created new ways to deliver a diverse range of experiences both in the real and virtual worlds to its customers across the globe. Beginning late last year, we have developed a digital ecosystem and launched ONESIAM SuperApp to create a universe of experiences that our customers can access from anywhere and at any time.”
“With this initiative, we are seeking to continue our long-standing success in supporting and taking the Thai fashion industry to the global stage. By leveraging Siam Center’s position at the frontier of Thai fashion over the past 48 years, we have given young designers an opportunity and a platform to show their power of creativity as well as nurtured and incubated new generations of designers for Thailand’s fashion industry. In today’s world, where the digital world plays a vital role in every realm, Siam Piwat is thus joining forces with ZEPETO, a world-class Metaverse player, to introduce something completely novel and different to the world of fashion – an area of expertise of Siam Piwat – by taking the innovative creations of young Thai fashion designers into the virtual world, thus showcasing their talent and offering them an opportunity to learn about the fashion world of the future.”
In early 2022, Siam Piwat embarked on the first collaboration with ZEPETO, the world’s premier 3D avatar platform with over 300 million users worldwide, in ONESIAM x ZEPETO Metaverse Songkran Festival 2022 – a campaign that delivered happiness and joy to people across the world through virtual water splashing in celebration of the Thai festival. Seamlessly connecting the real and virtual worlds, the event drew a large number of participants and truly delivered perfect parallel experience. The most recent collaboration was the creation of an innovative lifestyle phenomenon at Siam Paragon Bangkok International Fashion Week 2022 (BIFW 2022), held on September 21-25, 2022, in which featured fashion shows both on an actual runway and on a virtual runway, allowing customers to experience the event and shop in both worlds.
Mr. Heesuk Ricky Kang, the Head of Business for ZEPETO, adds, “We are pleased to be working with the true pioneers of the global retail industry in Siam Piwat. Together, we have connected virtual fashion with real world fashion, creating a unique experience that has never been done before. I hope this collaboration is the first of many virtual-to-offline experiences Siam Piwat and ZEPETO will build together.”
Born out of the determination to create a community for younger generations, especially Gen Z, BIFW featured a grand runway showcasing fashion items by leading brands. However, the main attraction was a fashion show that integrated the real world and the virtual world, in which fashion designers were invited to design fashion items for avatars on ZEPETO’s platform. The selected works were not only made available for sale in the Metaverse, but were also tailored and featured on the real-world runway of BIFW 2022 in the show entitled Absolute Siam Presented by Zepeto: Sculpture Studio x Waterandother x Fill in the Bag.
The designs featured on Absolute Siam’s runway were also transformed into items for avatars on ZEPETO’s platform, allowing users to customize theirs with items from Absolute Siam’s latest collection just as they can in the real world. In addition, ONESIAM and ZEPETO invited KOLs to join the virtual platform and organized fun activities where their real-world followers could have up close and personal interactions with them. These were all part of the fashion phenomenon where real-world runway shows featuring tangible fashion were organized in parallel with virtual fashion shows enjoyed by viewers worldwide.
The collaboration with world-class partner ZEPETO is in line with Siam Piwat’s key strategies, which are:
1)To deliver a universe of infinite experiences, foster engagement with customers across the world everywhere and at all times, and curate activities that fulfill lifestyle needs, create interactions, offer enjoyment, and enable everyone to enjoy a diverse range of experiences in novel ways to maximize satisfaction and maintain the top-of-mind position among Thai and international customers
2)To expand and penetrate new Gen-Z customer bases, particularly those who are drawn to gamification
3)To generate income from new ecosystems and compete with other platforms on the global level, thus allowing Siam Piwat to go beyond its primary business model
Thus, this collaborative endeavor marks another crucial step for Siam Piwat in strengthening the digital ecosystem and win the world for Thailand. Learn more information on ONESIAM SuperApp and ZEPETO.
