Covet: the future of fashion?

February 3 2014

It started pretty harmlessly. SW asks “Do you know anything about this Covet game?” “No” I replied. “I think you’ll like it” she says. Understatement Of The Year.

Covet Fashion is a new app-based game, giving users the opportunity to style looks and have those looks voted on by your fellow game players. Outfits with high scores generate prizes (extra items for your Covet wardrobe) and the ability to unlock extra challenges. Launched in mid-2013 by the stylist-to-the-stars, Rachel Zoe, the ‘game’ is being hailed as revolutionary to the fashion world. Sparked your interest, sublime seekers? Read on!

How does the game work? 

Covet has three forms of currency: tickets, dollars and diamonds.

Currency 1: Tickets

You need tickets to enter styling events, and you earn tickets by voting on other people’s styled looks. In the example below, other Covet users had styled their best semi-formal look for attending the opening of an international shoe museum (ummm, how much do I wish my life was my covet life!?). You’re presented with two outfits and select the outfit you think is best. That user’s look rating is then improved. Usually you do this five times then are rewarded with two tickets for your efforts!

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Your tickets can be used to enter events, most events cost between 15 and 25 tickets to enter.

Currency 2: Cash!

When you enter a Limited Time Event, you are often rewarded with cash!

Each event has a brief, often there’s a requirement to work an item of a particular colour or material into your outfit. Choose an event to enter, then Create Look. Your Covet girl is presented alongside my wardrobe to enable you to start styling her look! From this window you can also select Shop, which will take you through to the entire catalogue of clothes and accessories you can purchase for your covet wardrobe! You get extra styling points for using items that you haven’t worn before and/or are from the current season.

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But it’s not just your wardrobe you have access to! If you link your Covet account to facebook, you’ll also have access to borrow clothes from the wardrobes of other fb friends! Plus – the outfit is just part of the styling! The Covet app also lets you choose your Covet girl’s skin colour, makeup and hair:

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Once you’ve finalised your look and click Enter, you get your cash entry bonus immediately then it usually takes 2-4 days for voting results to come back. If your look receives more than 4 stars (of a total 5 stars), often you win the prize! The prize is something to add to your Covet wardrobe. Here, I won a pair of shoes for my fabulous holidaying-in-St-Tropez outfit:

Covet Win

There are also a series of challenges called Jet Set Events. These events take you around the world to fabulous locations and give you styling challenges. Here’s a set from India:

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You can enter Jet Set Events as many times as you like and the results come back to you in just 8 hours (like say, the amount of time you sleep at night, or the length of your work day…). When your travel score meets a certain level, you unlock the next challenge and receive 500 diamonds! I’m currently trying to get my travel score up to 148 to unlock the Architecture Tour in Shanghai:

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Currency 3: Diamonds! 

Diamonds are only awarded to you in Jet Set Events and can be used to purchase items from previous seasons, buy more tickets (if you’re too lazy to vote) or swap for Covet cash. So diamonds are very valuable! You can also buy diamonds using your apple iTunes account. That’s right – use real life money to buy Covet currency. The ratio is about $1 real dollar:$150 covet dollars/diamonds.

This is where it gets really interesting. 

All the wardrobe items that exist in Covet are actually real life items, available for purchase in store now! *gasp!* Everything you dress your covet character in, you can dress yourself in. This is how it goes down.

On Friday I dress my Covet character in this cute dalmation-esque dress:

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On Saturday, I’m cruising through French Connection in DJ’s at Carindale and low and behold! What do I see!?

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It’s the dress! It’s the same bloody dress!

And by Saturday arvo I’m also checking it out on the French Connection website:

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And so it seems that in this way, Covet is really a big, interactive, genius, brochure. A game to play on your smartphone or tablet, yes. But also a gigantic fun store, where you’re exposed to real, consumable products to virtually acquire, style and interact with!

Will it revolutionise the way we shop? 

Very possibly. I have found myself thinking about items I’ve been styling in my Covet wardrobe and wishing they were in my real life to wear (like leopard print pants, is anyone with me on this one? It’s created quite the debate in our house). I have been out and about in Brisbane, and spotted people wearing clothing that I’ve seen in Covet… then found myself analysing their styling of said items. I am putting together outfits in Covet that I wouldn’t have previously thought to wear in real life (case in point: jumpsuits)… and subsequently thinking about real-life styling differently. I’m curious about brands I hadn’t previously heard of and I’m wishing other brands I like were available for me to play with in Covet. The game is integrated with real life… and I’m finding as a result, it’s kinda influencing real life.

So is it just a big marketing ploy?

Perhaps. You could easily argue it’s a big waste of time and it’s fashion’s way of trying to seep into consumers minds. But my goodness it’s fun! If you’re like me and you LOVE fashion, it is an amazing, unique and life-like way to interact with more than 1,000 real, in-season fashion items. If you’re like me and love putting outfits together for fun events, this gives you an opportunity to do it over and over again in a day. If you’re like me and enjoy considering how other people style outfits then using that to inspire your own fashion choices, then it’s a way to do so without leaving your house! Fashion lovers know that fashion is participatory – and Covet gives you the opportunity to go through the whole lifecycle; shop, style, show-off and share… from the palm of your hand. Yes, I’m being suckered in to looking at and lusting after all these real life items, and hey I might even buy one or two in the future, but it’s also a great way to tune out for 20 minutes and let the brain unwind.

So I’m calling it – a sublime find for fashion lovers! If you consider yourself in that group, it’s most certainly worth the free download in your app store!

♥AS

Are you a Covet addict? Tell us about your experience below! 

4 Comments

  • Samantha says:

    Completely addicted! I’ve found myself now buying clothes similar to the ones I’ve styled lol

    • Meee tooo Samantha! Covet was the answer to “Why am I all of a sudden desperate for leopard print pants!?”. I also find myself seeing other people’s outfits and linking them to items in my Covet closet. Covet has taken over my brain!

  • Emileth says:

    I’m from Venezuela and we’re living difficult times right now… What keeps my mind sane? Covet! So there’s a political an economic crisis out there, yes there’s but let me have fun and forget for a while all the world madness. And yes, I will love to have my covet closet in real life. In fact when I saw the Channel’s closet on Scream Queens I just thought “oh that’s so perfect for my covet’s clothes”. Great article. Loved it!

    • Thanks for your note Emileth – I’m glad to know there’s someone else who loves Covet as much as me! I haven’t seen Scream Queens yet – will have to check it out… if only for the closet!! x

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