Reality Bytes

Google Daydream is a mobile-phone virtual reality system. Could it also be a fashion game changer?

- Faran Krentcil

Imagine sitting front row at Rag & Bone’s spring runway show in New York. You’re perched between YSL muse Staz Lindes and NYLON fashion director J. Errico. As the clothes breeze by, you’re so close you can see every detail, from the opening look’s silver zippers to the models’ nude lip gloss. Radiohead’s OK Computer thumps from the speakers as lasers dance to a beat on the ceiling, a trick by the London tech collective TEM. After the final outfit—a moody pinstripe suit—stomps by, designer Marcus Wainwright takes his bow, and everybody claps. (OK, everybody Instagrams, but that’s the postmodern version of applause, yes?) You all get up to leave. As the other showgoers head for the crowded exit, you remove your virtual reality headset and decide it’s time to put on some pants and get coffee. May be you’re in Austin or Boston or Barcelona. It doesn’t really matter, because with Rag & Bone’s spring 2017 show, you can experience it anywhere—as long as you’re hooked up.