Why Is Gaming Fashion (Mostly) So Bad?

Video games are a huge part of contemporary culture, so why isn't gaming fashion working? Some of the best fashion collabs bring games into reality, but command luxury prices. More commonly, streetwear and high fashion brings uninspired or safe designs to gaming fans, with seemingly few alternatives. One solution is the world of vintage gaming tees gaining a cult following, which feel more authentic and evoke our sense of nostalgia.

And, of course, we're taking a look at the Acronym x Kojima Productions J91-WSDB jacket, which will be featured in 2025 game Death Stranding 2.

Thanks to @OwenHyatt for being part of the video!

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[OwenHyatt]

fuck it imma make a hoodie with Radahn's mane

[MechaBorne]

Just sell me Elden Ring armor you cowards

[Zockanumber]

Its always been so contradictory to me how in nerdy hobbies like gaming and especially anime the characters in the media are often super fashion forward but the people who consume said media are notorious for dressing bad

[YanickFM]

You're articulating so many of the gripes I've had over the years with merch, both gaming and anime stuff. Back when I was really into attack on Titan, I ordered one of those green cloaks they wear in the show, only to never wear it because it was cheap Halloween costume polyester haha

[FrostbiteDigital]

When it comes to gaming (or even movies) fashion trends, I'd much rather prefer it if the clothes (or really any other merch for that matter) I was wearing was IN-UNIVERSE clothing rather than just uninspired, bland and boring branded stuff.

[AlexHider]

Being uninspired is the actual issue here. It’s really hard to buy cool fun merch for….anything at all, especially when “official” merch basically doesn’t exist, leaving others to pick up the slack, and unfortunately its most via lazy redbubble shirts.

[Kitsuyomi]

I've always been so annoyed that they don't do things like the gym leader outfits from pokemon, or just clothes that characters would wear in general- kojima did things right with the death stranding collab but yeah I can imagine how expensive it must be to design that kind of jacket

[ashtmslf]

tbh I'd personally rather take inspiration from a character I like (without it becoming full on cosplay) when putting a fit together than wearing officially branded clothing. LOWLuxury did a video about taking inspiration from movie characters in your style choices and I feel like the same could apply to video games as well

[UnimportantAcc]

How am I only just finding out there was a GTA San Andreas Carharrt Jacket back in 2004?? Actually looks good

[MaxRovensky]

This jacket is perfect for Iceland waterfall photos
It's Acronym, so it can withstand Iceland, and it's orange, so it fits the photography cliche

But ofc it sold out while I was driving home, rip

[DarkFire]

I think you made an excellent point in that game related clothing can be at its best when it takes inspiration from a game, or even a genre of games, rather than simply being minimum effort merch such as cheapo t-shirts with a simple logo printed on them. Probably the best example I've come across was a sweather that was made to look like a set of armour from the Witcher. In addition to looking vaguely like something Geralt would wear it was actually a decent quality sweater that was actually warm & comfortable.

[Mark-xwyt]

I've recently been thinking a lot about having an orange/black puffy statement piece like this jacket cuz of an image from an anime I was inspired by. So this jacket seems cool asf to me. Definitely planning on buying it within the next decade when I finally get myself a well paying job.

[Perelka_L]

Re: Pokemon, seriously, dumbass merch in japan for relative pennies has so much more character and inspiration than anything, ANYTHING related to pokemon released in the west, like creative use of pokemon designs, or clothes inspired by trainers and pokemon... I still daydream of owning a Raihan's jacket. But it's all stuck in Japan. Anywhere outside, It's Pikachu or Charizard for 34495th time. It's so disappointing.

[_B_U_P_]

i think reproduction pieces from game characters is the best way to do game clothes, since the fashion is direcly tied to character and world design, and the art medium means they're very much unique from any existing clothes. the pokemon gym leader clothing is a great example, so many gym leader pieces have unique color schemes or little lines and angles that make them resemble their pokemon or type. morty's scarf at 4:37 is a pretty simple piece, but the cut edge and red flame ends are unique details that make it resemble certain ghost mons. it could be worn up or down in many styles yet retains the design connections to the character. reproducing these kinds of pieces irl lets you show off a game's design aspects instead of just showing off an ip. the death stranding jacket is really cool, but such a big piece is gonna always be worn as "the death stranding jacket"

[Musasabi]

Such a great topic! Massive geek here, and I love a good licenced product, but I want something that comes from the universe itself, not a logo sticked on something. I want the clothes from Cyberpunk and not these disappointing t-shirts. The vest looks amazing on you btw!

[antxiety]

ngl i need me a good minecraft creeper hoodie.

[naomi_lyon]

I *SO* want one of those aerostatic crew jackets now . . .

[amcstryker]

Back in the day, I got an N7 Mass Effect hoodie. I think it was in 2012 when Mass Effect 3 was coming out. I got it through their own merch webstore. Had the N7 logo on the chest with the red and white stripe going down the side of one arm.

The cool thing about it was that the limited edition of the game had a code for that exact hoodie that your Commander Shepard could wear as a casual outfit.

[teno]

I really wish gaming clothing was not just the game's mascot printed on some random tee or hoodie, even among "higher end" brands. So utterly boring and shows a complete lack of understanding, or rather, complete disconnect with only juicy pokémon €€€ or some such in mind.
It also reminds me of the opposite, when capcom did Nero and Dante leather coats as real-life premium leather jackets at 2.5k€, but the coats just didn't capture their in-game counterpart style-wise, even accounting for the fact that it's a game, etc...

[sevware]

I remember S.T.A.L.K.E.R. had some really nice merch that was basically just stuff the stalkers in the game might wear. Unfortunately I was a teen back then and couldn't afford those