The Best Gaming-Inspired Apparel

Fortnite Merch and Gaming Apparel

Throughout the years, we’ve seen the gaming and fashion industries become increasingly intertwined. Now, as the lines between real-life and virtual worlds become blurrier than ever, the scope for these industries to embrace one another has reached a whole new level.

Who hasn’t spent hours cycling through some in-game wardrobe, in a maddening attempt at making their main character look as good as possible before embarking on another big quest? 

If nothing else, it’s pure escapism, something most of us have likely needed at one point or another over the last couple of years. 

That element of sheer freedom, of pure imagination, is understandably something that many of the world’s most innovative brands and personalities are keen to jump on. From musicians to streetwear icons, this crossover has allowed for a long list of improbable, but incredible gaming-inspired collections.

Here are just a few of our favourites… 

Balenciaga x Fortnite Merch

Coinciding with a range of authentic Balenciaga looks that have been made available within Fortnite as customisable outfits, the San Sebastián label also brought a super-limited run of battle royale-inspired Fortnite merch to the physical world. 

President of Epic Games, the developer behind Fortnite, explained the thought process behind the unlikely partnership: “Self-expression is one of the things that makes Fortnite so unique, and there couldn’t be a better first fashion partner than Balenciaga to bring their authentic designs and trendsetting culture to millions of players around the world.”

Supreme x Thrasher Skate and Destroy

Both Supreme and Thrasher’s legendary status amongst an ever-growing list of streetwear labels is pretty much secured for life. Naturally then, these two working together is always going to be an exciting prospect. 

That rings even truer when the link-up pays tribute to the iconic skate game, Thrasher Presents Skate and Destroy. Among the impressive collection, is a run of both tees and hoodies proudly sporting a screenshot from the 1999 PlayStation title. 

100 Thieves Camping SZN Hoodie

In 2020, Esports collective 100 Thieves served up an array of striking apparel influenced by one of, if not the most frowned upon trait in the world of online gaming. 

Using their disapproval of camping as a starting point for the designs, the aesthetics begin to quickly veer towards actual camping, with illustrations featuring folks sitting around a fire by a tent. 

The end result is a capsule that takes clear inspiration from traditional outerwear—think North Face, Berghaus—and adds an eclectic twist. 

Balenciaga x PlayStation

To say the last few years have been a success for Balenciaga would be a massive, colossal understatement. The Spanish luxury fashion house has managed to crack the world of both hype and mainstream fashion, and then some. 

In teaming up with Sony for a Fall / Winter 21 capsule, that reputation will almost certainly jump to a whole new level as it taps into another brand new audience while ticking the nostalgia boxes of the one it already has.

The Scotts x Fortnite Merch

Travis Scott’s affiliation with the gaming universe is well-documented, and that was taken to a mind-blowing new level when he performed a groundbreaking virtual concert within the realms of Fortnite last year. 

To commemorate the record-breaking event, which racked up a staggering 12.3 million live viewers, Scott dropped a limited run of Fortnite merch, featuring artwork inspired by the game. 

BAPE x CAPCOM

Few titles bring the memories flooding back quite like the Street Fighter franchise, and we feel pretty confident in unequivocally declaring it as one of the greats.

To mark the release of Street Fighter V, two Japanese giants of pop culture, BAPE and CAPCOM, unveiled a limited run of tees featuring seminal characters like Ryu, Blanka, Ken, Chun-Li, Zangief and Honda.

Juice WRLD x FaZe Clan

Created as a homage to Juice WRLD’s posthumous record Legends Never Die, Esports giants FaZe Clan paid tribute to their friend, and the legacy he forged within the gaming community. 

The collection came about after a commemorative paintball game, dubbed “Team 999 vs Team FaZe Clan”, took place in the musician’s memory. The limited-run featured a series of graphic t-shirts, a hoodie and even a paintball jersey with matching shorts. 

Fragment x Pokemon

Hiroshi Fujiwara’s work with Pokemon has come in an eclectic mix of iterations since it first began in 2018, though 2020’s THUNDERBOLT PROJECT was particularly well-received among fans. 

The entire capsule dropped in black with contrasting white trim, and utilised a reworked version of the FRGMT logo which incorporated the signature Pokemon typeface