Burberry drops virtual handbag collection on Roblox

Burberry has dropped a virtual handbag collection taking inspiration from its Lolo bag on the open-world platform Roblox.

The exclusive limited-edition virtual Lola range is comprised of five unique handbags drawing on Burberry’s spirit of adventure and affinity for nature and the outdoors. The virtual bags have been created in partnership with one of the Roblox community’s most established digital fashion designers, @Builder_Boy and are crafted from materials including clouds, water and wild foliage.

Each bag will only be available to purchase for 24 hours, from July 11 to 15, in the Roblox Avatar Marketplace for 800 Roblox, which costs around 8.99 pounds. The digital fashion items will then be owned on the Roblox platform and members will be able to dress their avatars with the handbag.

Rachel Waller, vice president of channel innovation at Burberry, said in a statement: "We are thrilled to partner with Roblox to share a virtual handbag collection and to bring our iconic Lola bag to life in an entirely new creative way. The expression of our digital personas is a fascinating concept and one which we know is increasingly important to our customers.

“Roblox is a platform built on imagination, community and creativity pillars which are central to our brand, and we’re delighted to bring our virtual products to this community.”

Burberry launches digital fashion with Roblox

As part of the collaboration, each handbag is accompanied by an exclusive emote, a unique action that avatars can perform on Roblox, available to users for free for a limited time. The distinctive movements, such as levitation or dance, mirror each handbag’s design theme.

Christina Wootton, vice president of global partnerships at Roblox, added: “For our global community of over 50 million daily active users, self-expression through digital fashion and personalization of avatars is an important part of their day-to-day experience on the platform.

“Roblox enables people to be whoever they want to be, create and experiment with personal style and fashion. We are excited to welcome Burberry to our platform with this creative accessory line that expands our already vast collection of avatar personalization options with luxury items created in collaboration with our community.”

This isn’t Burberry’s first foray into digital fashion and follows the luxury house’s earlier virtual experiences, including releasing its first online game, B Bounce, in October 2019, followed by its extension Ratberry, in celebration of Chinese New Year, in January 2020.

In July 2020, Burberry also introduced its first multiplayer game, B Surf, developed in-house by Burberry’s digital teams to support the TB Summer Monogram campaign. In August 2021, the fashion label launched its first in-game NFT collection in partnership with Mythical Games, and in June this year, Burberry continued its partnership to release a second NFT collection in its flagship title, Blankos Block Party. The collection included a limited-edition Burberry Blanko, a unicorn named Minny B, and a selection of Burberry branded in-game accessories that players could add to their virtual portfolio.