Balenciaga partners with Fortnite on in-game outfits and IRL

Balenciaga has partnered with Fortnite on a series of in-game outfits and a collection of limited-edition physical clothing.

Fortnite’s Balenciaga Fit Set amplifies the wardrobes of the game’s most popular characters: Ramirez, Knight, Doggo, and Banshee. Modeled as a digital version of the brand’s recent runway designs, each outfit is complete with Balenciaga backblings, pickaxes, gliders, wraps and several other accessories for unique style options.

“We took four fan-favorite Fortnite characters and looked to Balenciaga’s archives to create four meticulously detailed outfits and a variety of accessories,” Emily Levy, senior director of partnerships at Epic Games, told HYPEBEAST. “The looks were inspired by pieces from several Balenciaga collections. More specifically, Ramirez and Knight are inspired by the brand’s fall 2021 collection, Doggo cites the Maison’s spring 2021 line and Banshee is inspired by spring 2020.

“Working closely with the Balenciaga design team, our artists at Epic used new techniques in Unreal Engine to accurately represent the look and feel of iconic Balenciaga fabrics and designs when creating the new set. outfits in Unreal, ”she added.

Along with the launch of digital clothing, Fortnite has also launched a community-driven in-game living lookbook campaign with the Strange Times Featured Hub. Located in a “strange” city, the Hub hosts a Balenciaga retail store inspired by the brand’s physical locations. There, billboards displaying sartorial imagery promoting the collaboration will showcase the Fortnite community’s commitment to the style.

Taking the partnership a step further, Fortnite and Balenciaga have also created a limited-edition physical clothing collection, featuring a plethora of hats, t-shirts, hoodies and jackets featuring a double branding in white colourways, Red and black. The actual clothes will hit shelves on September 20 and 21, depending on the region.

“Our partnership with Epic didn’t start with Fortnite, actually,” Demna Gvasalia, artistic director of Balenciaga, said in a statement. “It all started with our own first video game, Afterworld, which we built using Unreal Engine to launch our Fall 2021 collection. From there, we continued to draw inspiration from the creativity of Unreal communities and Fortnite. It made perfect sense to me for us to collaborate more by creating these authentic Balenciaga looks for Fortnite and a new Fortnite physical clothing series for our stores.

Take a look at the in-game outfits and physical clothing collaborations above.

Elsewhere, take a closer look at Palace’s latest collaboration with EVISU.