You can now buy clothes for Instagram without ever wearing them IRL

(Image credit: 2019 Christian Vierig)

With the current conversation around sustainable fashion, and reports that some influencers buy clothes and only wear them once, a Norwegian company Carlings has found an interesting solution: digital fashion.

The idea is similar to online shopping. You browse a selection of clothes, then pick something and order it. Except that you'll never wear it IRL, because said clothes aren't made of fabric or anything tangible. They are purely made to be worn virtually.

Instead, you simply send a picture of yourself to Carlings, where a team of 3D designers will digitally fit the item of clothing on you, and then you're ready to post it to Instagram.

Kicki Perrson, brand manager at Carlings, told ELLE, 'In real life, these types of designer clothes cost thousands of pounds and will usually be worn on social media once because of their distinct design.'

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'By selling the digital collection at £15 per item, we’ve sort of democratised the economy of the fashion industry and at the same time opened up the world of taking chances with your styling, without leaving a negative carbon footprint.'

The brand also has a 'normal' collection, but she says the digital one is becoming more and more popular.

It'll be interesting to see if it takes off, and you can't argue it could potentially be a good solution to clothing waste.

Penny Goldstone

Penny Goldstone is the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire, covering everything from catwalk trends to royal fashion and the latest high street and Instagram must-haves.

Penny grew up in France and studied languages and law at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris before moving to the UK for her MA in multimedia journalism at Bournemouth University. She moved to the UK permanently and has never looked back (though she does go back regularly to stock up on cheese and wine).

Although she's always loved fashion - she used to create scrapbooks of her favourite trends and looks, including Sienna Miller and Kate Moss' boho phase - her first job was at MoneySavingExpert.com, sourcing the best deals for everything from restaurants to designer sales.

However she quit after two years to follow her true passion, fashion journalism, and after many years of internships and freelance stints at magazines including Red, Cosmopolitan, Stylist and Good Housekeeping, landed her dream job as the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire UK.

Her favourite part of the job is discovering new brands and meeting designers, and travelling the world to attend events and fashion shows. Seeing her first Chanel runway IRL at Paris Fashion Week was a true pinch-me moment.