Animal Crossing Gets a Stylish Makeover Thanks to Real-Life Fashion Designers

While sweatpants and athleisure might be more present in people’s daily routines due to social distancing, that doesn’t mean they’re not getting their style fix. But it might be happening virtually on Animal Crossing, where on any given island, you might spot a character sporting a Sandy Liang fleece or a sleek dress from the Phoebe Philo era of Céline.

With the Nintendo game Animal Crossing: New Horizons, players can customize their looks to show off outfits that reflect their personal style, something that piqued the interests of fashion enthusiasts playing the game, who quickly began designing custom looks that riffed on the trendy designers of the moment. Coupled with social distancing and less opportunities to show off fits in-person, it’s created an unorthodox, but amazing opportunity for Animal Crossing users to show off their outfits — so much so that many real-life fashion designers are creating official clothing codes so users can cop designs from their latest collections.

Fashion photographer Kara Chung, who began documenting the high-fashion looks of her and her friends’ characters on Animal Crossing, recently teamed up with legendary fashion house Valentino to make 20 custom looks from their S/S and Paris Fashion Week 2020 collections, that are available to access for free with codes.

Chung also collaborated with Marc Jacobs to create six pieces from their The Marc Jacobs line, also available for free with the codes.

They’re not the only designers looking to dress the characters of Animal Crossing. Indie designer Sandy Liang created free codes for looks for both her current collection and past collections and offered them to her customers, along with an invitation to visit her island for a sort of virtual pop-up shop. She also encouraged those who visited and used the code to make a donation to Give Directly.

Italian label GCDS also created free codes for their customers and encouraged them to share their virtual looks on Instagram.

Whether you’re into streetwear or couture, it seems that there’s a look, and a code, for everyone in Animal Crossing.