Aiming to boost its real-world popularity, NBC Universal's iVillage Monday will host a "fashion show" in the simulated world Second Life.
The initiative, coinciding with the
start of Fashion Week in New York, will mark the third time since December that iVillage has held an event in Second Life, where it aims to connect with the Internet-savvy Web users who frequent the
site.
"If we can get this group of women--who are chatty, who look to one another, who frequently are bloggers themselves--that's a great way to market ourselves in a new form of media," said
iVillage Chief Marketing Officer Linda Boff.
Monday's show will feature virtual clothing and accessories designed by fictional Second Life-only companies. Second Life residents who go to the
event will be able to "teleport" to the designers' game-world stores, where they can use Linden dollars to outfit their avatars with the featured items.
iVillage has hired Electric Sheep to
launch its area in Second Life, the iVillage Loft; for the fashion show, iVillage tapped a virtual modeling agency, Boff said.
Yet, for all the work that has gone into the event, no more than 400
avatars will be able to attend in Second Life due to technical limitations. Boff said iVillage is investigating streaming the event elsewhere on the Web.