Covet Fashion: New Virtual Models For Diversity

Covet Fashion, which has more than 500,000 daily users, is aiming to celebrate women and change the way they feel about themselves through an evolution of its game-like styling platform, Style Challenges.

In working with Glu Mobile Inc., the two companies announced that 50 new virtual models are now on the platform — ones with more shapes, sizes, heights, skin colors and facial features. There was previously just one option of body choice for the models.

Covet Fashion allows its users to style virtual models with brands like Michael Kors, Rebecca Minkoff, Rachel Zoe, Zimmermann and Calvin Klein. Glu Mobile is a global developer and publisher of free-to-play games, available through the App Store, Google Play and Amazon Appstore.

According to a release, the launch comes at a time when women making it heard that they want to be better represented in fashion and supported by their peers, adding that “because beauty comes in all forms.”

Through the campaign called “Evolving the Standards of Beauty,” the change and addition of these models is a product of feedback that Covet said it received from its community and consumer base, who wanted the models to be better representative of them. The company says that the initiative is the product of more than a year of research, working with users and the broader fashion world. The intent, according to the release from both Glu and Covet, is to “inspire every woman to feel confident in their own unique way and embrace the beauty of those around them.”

Executives at Covet said that when the company launched nearly four years ago, it wasn’t apparent that the platform would impact its users in the magnitude and personal way that was heard through feedback.

“Because of the creative and interactive nature of the app, our audience has become emotionally invested — both in each other and in the content they create,” said Blair Ethington, senior vice president and general manager of Covet Fashion. “When some users told us that they didn’t feel represented and when we realized the opportunity we had to impact so many women in a positive way, we knew we had a responsibility to spread a message of empowerment.”

Another part of the “Evolving the Standards of Beauty” initiative is to build confidence in women and overcome their insecurities. Part of the campaign includes a video where three women are given makeovers and reminded of their inner and outer beauty.

Critics say this campaign is a concerted effort made by a video game to be more representative of women’s body types, beauty and inclusivity.