LCF Graduate Futures explores opportunities for growth within the Metaverse

'LCF Graduate Futures Hosts: The Metaverse' was an evening of networking and discussion about opportunities for growth within the metaverse. The in-person event took place recently at LCF's John Prince’s Street site and was the first in a series of 'Graduate Futures Hosts' events that delve into the current trends dominating the creative industries.

Hosted by LCF Graduate Futures Enterprise Consultant Aasia D’Vaz- Sterling, the evening was an informal and engaging fireside chat that brought together key industry experts and LCF alum; Viviane Paraschiv, Business Development & Strategy Consultant at StartupMill; Lauren Kacher, Web3 fashion pioneer, Digital Fashion Consultant, and Founder of ALTERRAGE; Kelsey Savin, Director of New Media and Web 3 at KINDUSTRY; and Ashwini Deshpande, a fashion designer at Meta, who as LCF Alumni shared their journeys and vision of the metaverse.

A key theme during the conversation was how the metaverse and emerging technologies can support intrapreneurs within their organisations to take risks and look at what is happening in the space to capture opportunities, and better the work that they do. People will need to have the space to be creative and education will be key at all levels so everyone can navigate market changes and when technologies evolve.

Being innovative within an organisation is the only way to create a metaverse and we have found that the bigger the company the lower the appetite for risk. It is so important to nurture an environment and to stay curious and ‘intrapreneurially’ minded - Lauren Kacher, Web3 fashion pioneer, Digital Fashion Consultant, and Founder of ALTERRAGE

The audience was made up of both LCF students and graduates, who were keen to find out how to look for opportunities. As graduates, they were advised on how best to navigate and decide the value of companies embracing the metaverse and its offerings, but at the same time, understanding that there is a need for companies to offer graduates a stable income.

There is a need for balance between embracing burgeoning technologies and having a stable income. Fashion has always been on that precipice, but you should still go out there and test and learn and get what you need from Companies in this space - Kelsey Savin, Director of New Media and Web 3 at KINDUSTRY

The conversation concluded with thoughts on what the timeline would be for all brands to be part of the web3 community. Every brand sees the metaverse differently and it means different things to different people but there are many ways for brands to grow into the space and it is already being used by businesses in areas such as gaming, special effects, and across many other professions. Key advice to students from the evening was to take risks, test, and learn. The metaverse will be the future but first, there is a need to educate people and help them understand the concept. Only then will you be able to convince people to embrace the opportunities in this new space.

We may still be at the very beginning of the journey into the metaverse but the main takeaway I got was that it will be up to us to shape what web3 will look like, making sure it will be for the people by the people - Romain Potier, BA Fashion Design Technology: Womenswear alumni and multimedia designer.

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