“Vogue World: New York is a celebration of all the ways in which fashion is changing,” says Vogue creative editorial director Mark Guiducci. “It comes at a moment when designers have become multidisciplinary creators, innovating how we engage with fashion — even virtually.” (Vogue and Vogue Business share a parent company, Condé Nast.)

The goal is to take “an age-old brand story and tell it through brand new technology,” says Resh Sidhu, global director of Arcadia, Snap’s creative studio for branded AR. Vogue and Snap will promote the Vogue World event via two lenses inspired by and branded Vogue that can be used worldwide: “A New Stage”, inspired by the Vogue World runway, allows people to bring versions of the staging to their own environment, while “Lit Up” enables selfies that “reflect the runway” through a virtual glow based on the sunset and moonrise.

AR try-on has become increasingly popular in fashion and beauty. Brands began by testing makeup and face filters (such as trying on digital glasses), before graduating to items like shoes and watches. Big names including Gucci, Burberry, Farfetch and Prada have tested shoppable AR try-on, and Snap has worked to position itself as a go-to partner for the industry’s AR endeavours. In June, British Vogue brought a Snapchat experience to Cannes Lions that let visitors try on digital items from brands such as Versace and Dior.

Brands have also tested Snap’s ability to add a “digital layer” to the world around us, as Snap global product lead in AR Carolina Arguelles Navas has said to Vogue Business, through enhancements such as in-store augmentations (such as Nike’s AR archives experience with “artefacts” unlocked via QR codes) or delivering a stack of Louis Vuitton luggage cases.

As physical fashion weeks reconvene in global cities, pop-ups and shows such as AR platform Zero10’s digital retail store in New York and AR fashion artist Doddz’s digital in-person show, are expected to take advantage of improvements in AR technology. The Vogue World experience, for example, uses Snap’s ground and sky segmentation technology, and Snap recently made its try-on tech available to external apps and developers in a bid to deepen relationships with brands and retailers. Snap has been a clear leader in using AR for social commerce, and now sees more than 6 billion AR Lens plays daily. As of Snap’s Q1 2022, more than 250 million people used Snap’s AR shopping lenses every day on average.