Max Mara Partners With Roblox, Enters Gaming World for First Time
MILAN — Max Mara is entering the gaming world.
The Italian fashion brand on Wednesday is launching the Max Mara Coats Adventure in a partnership with Roblox, billing it as “an immersive edutainment experience.”
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In a nod to Max Mara’s expertise with fabrics and fashion, meadows become expanses of fabric and trees are giant spools. The space allows users to run, jump, and ride a rollercoaster transporting the brand’s signature 101801 coats among buildings with whimsical shapes.
With brand awareness and brand interaction in mind, the adventure exposes the users to a digital universe populated by their avatars which solve puzzles and interact with each other.
Roblox is a global gaming platform with 70 million daily active users, as of the third quarter of 2023. Doubled as the “Ultimate Virtual Universe,” Roblox experiences are digital places where users can socialize, build their own spaces, and even earn or spend virtual money through different tasks and challenges.
Last year Max Mara celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Teddy Coat, conceived by creative director Ian Griffiths and marked by the brand’s Fluffy Residences around the world, activations that helped cement its international visibility, increasing its relevance on social media and attracting a younger clientele while retaining its loyal customers.
The Fluffy Residences are spaces reimagined as a home where everything is wrapped in the coat’s signature fluffy beige fabric, from the kitchen countertop, bookshelves and flowers to tableware, the bed with a giant teddy bear figure sitting on it, and even the bathroom.
Max Mara has built its reputation over the years with a long list of coats that have made history, such as the 101801 design, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2021, or the robe-like Manuela coat launched in the ’90s. The camel coat has become a brand staple, appearing on display at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, at the Fashion Museum of Paris and in Copenhagen’s Industry Museum.
Several fashion and beauty brands have been partnering with Roblox expanding their domains, ranging from Fenty to Gucci, among some.
In November, E.l.f. Beauty debuted its first Roblox game — called E.l.f. Up! — featuring experiences inspired by the brand’s core franchises, such as a “Holy Hydration!” underwater sea life charity and animal rescue; a “Big Mood” recording studio and chocolate shop; the “Power Grip” climbing gym and tech start-up, and a “Halo Glow” art and jewelry gallery.
Last spring, Rebecca Minkoff revealed a 20-piece collection of avatar-wear that debuted on Roblox.
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