How Fashion Brands Have Successfully Penetrated the Gaming Industry
For long-term, sustainable growth, fashion brands need to appeal beyond the style-savvy and adapt to a diverse range of consumer tastes. That’s largely why they’ve expanded to multiple spheres of pop culture, from movies like The Devil Wears Prada to pop star-studded campaigns, like Versace’s collaboration with Sabrina Carpenter to promote its Medusa Biggie eyewear.
As such, it’s no surprise that the fashion industry turned its attention to a new market these past couple of years: gaming. With a Mordor Intelligence market report revealing that the global gaming industry, which is worth roughly $270 billion, is powered by over 5.45 billion internet users—comprised of esports audiences and gamers playing on PC, console, and mobile—this particular market offers fashion brands vast, untapped pools of potential consumers.
Thus far, the fashion industry’s expansion efforts here have proven successful. Currently, data from the in-game advertising agency Anzu finds that over 76% of gamers in the US alone now follow fashion brands and influencers. Another 66% actively buy pieces from luxury labels.
Given this, other industry players may be interested in learning how fashion brands have successfully penetrated the gaming industry.
Improving reach with the industry's biggest brands
In pinpointing the biggest brands in gaming and associating themselves with them, the fashion industry has been able to find new audiences. One of the best examples here is Kounterfeit Poker, a clothing line conceived by poker pro Jeff Boski.
After wanting “something light and comfortable” to wear during tournaments, Boski worked with an apparel manufacturer to create pieces that perfectly suited his needs. These slowly gained traction among his friends in professional poker, and he eventually started making garments for them, as well. Eventually, he decided to launch Kounterfeit Poker as its own brand.
The line flourished thanks to Boski integrating its releases into his work as part of ACR Poker’s Pro team. Considered #1 in US online poker, ACR Poker boasts one of the biggest player pools in the industry thanks to an expansive tournament schedule bolstered by multiple online promotions, and it uses that reach to sponsor Boski during competitive events. That’s allowed Boski to show off his apparel amid his deep tournament runs—including when he represented ACR at the Triton Super High Roller Series in Vietnam, where he finished in the top 10. Thanks to that exposure, Kounterfeit now ships both poker clothes and accessories to more markets, including the US, Canada, and Europe.
Creating immersive and gamified fashion experiences
The industry also uses video games as an effective marketing tool by meeting it in the digital space. According to the software company GEEIQ, a whopping 700 fashion brands initiated over 1,200 activations across gaming platforms in 2024—a 58% increase from the previous year. Many of them involved creating immersive, gamified experiences revolving around pieces from both everyday and luxury labels, which is a large part of why more of today’s gamers now purchase fashion items. Among those labels is Coach, which is best known for its youthfully designed yet highly sophisticated range of luxury leather goods.
Last year, the digital versions of those goods found their way onto Roblox. A leading Metaverse gaming platform, it averages over 77.7 million active daily users and already hosts style-themed games like Fashion Klossette and Fashion Famous 2. Coach was able to leverage that vast user base through the Find Your Courage campaign. Here, the aforementioned Roblox games featured Coach-themed runway backdrops and offered items inspired by the brand, which players could directly purchase for their in-game avatars to wear and use in competitions. The move successfully appealed to Roblox users with a strong interest in fashion and digital self-expression—leading them to drive Coach’s revenue for 2024 up by 5% and helping make up for the sales drop the brand recorded in 2023.
Enhancing trust through influential players and streamers
Influencer marketing is another vital strategy that fuels growth in the fashion industry. Our post ‘How to Leverage Brand Ambassadors and Influencers to Make Your Ecommerce Brand Stand Out’ notes that it can be a cost-effective way to boost brand awareness and credibility while enhancing consumer trust. That’s arguably why fashion has such a strong presence in esports, which boasts a worldwide audience of just under 900 million. One brand that’s successfully leveraged this audience is 100 Thieves, one of the biggest names in US gaming fashion. Known as “the Supreme of esports,” its themed yet elevated hoodies and t-shirts aim to counter esports merchandise made with low-quality fabrics.
To cement its status as the leading esports apparel brand, it leverages a curated team of brand ambassadors that include some of the biggest gaming personalities, such as co-founder and Valorant streamer Valkyrae, Elden Ring content creator Kai Cenat, and Counter-Strike pro Gaules. As a result, 100 Thieves’ is currently valued at around half a billion dollars. It’s even been able to start operating its own esports teams across various titles and leagues, allowing its clothing lines to gain further prestige at professional esports tournaments.
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