10 of the best bootleg fits coming out of Animal Crossing

Though you might not have known what it was a couple of months ago, you will most likely be all too aware of Animal Crossing: New Horizons by now. The Nintendo-released game, which has become a defining fixture of our isolated world, allows players to carry out various tasks in a small village through a series of tiny, anthropomorphic creatures.

Truly escapist in its premise, Animal Crossing is allowing us to get back to nature (albeit through a screen) at a time when most of us are relegated to our own four walls day in, and day out. 

Unsurprisingly, in addition to fishing and collecting vegetables, increasingly, people are using the game to mirror aspects of real life. From art lovers recreating a host of contemporary masterpieces, such as Marina Abramović’s “The Artist Is Present”, to protestors using it as a battleground to fight for democracy in Hong Kong, there are also those using Animal Crossing as an arena to try out some pretty high-end fashion. 

Digitally rendering a series of IRL styles by the likes of Mowalola, Raf Simons, and Rick Owens, people are reimagining streetwear, Haute Couture, and ready-to-wear looks in pixel format: much like The Sims before it, Animal Crossing has become yet another world for fashion fans to get crafty in. 

Here, and with that in mind, we dive into some of our fave looks to hit the virtual landscape so far.

VAQUERA

Coming straight from Vaquera’s AW20 collection, this oversized white logo t-shirt has been paired with a red rose (very on-brand), black trousers, and some sliders. Modelled in the great outdoors, with a couple of vending machines in the background, the New York-based label proves the diversity of its clothing, captioning this post: “Vaquera shirt in IRL isolation and on her island in Animal Crossing.” 

DIOR HOMME 

A key lewk from Kim Jones’ Pre-AW19 collection, this technical wool jumper, decorated with the DIOR logo to the chest, feels perfectly fitting for a virtual recreation given the designer looked futurstic works by legendary artist Hajime Sorayama for inspo. J'also love the addition of the Burberry cap and Balenciaga-esque glasses. 

COMME DES GARÇONS

Through her work, Rei Kawakubo seeks to challenge the notion of what clothing can be, and how better to smash through the boundaries of fashion than by recreating one of her looks for an avatar in a video game to wear? This Animal Crossing designer took on a Comme des Garçons red latex pinafore dress, seen here with a white t-shirt, and black fishnet tights. Naturally, we love. 

MOWALOLA 

Mowalola may have skipped the most recent fashion season, but that doesn’t mean her designs aren’t resonating everywhere, with Nook Street Market (a play on Dover Street Market) reimagining two of the designer’s cut out dresses. With one coming in black and the other a blue and green tie-dye, our Animal Crossing model pairs the look with round John Lennon-styled glasses and a pair of 90s-esque space buns.

GUCCI

For AW20, Gucci played dress up. With costume-like pieces making their way around the carousel-like set-up, the collection was as eclectic as ever, with cute babydoll dresses accessorised with headscarves, 70s-style blouses tucked into high-waisted flares, and a series of 18th Century-inspired corseted gowns. Seemingly the latter caught the attention of this AC creator, with this little character seen wearing a digital iteration of an ice-blue iteration. 

NICOLE MCLAUGHLIN

Blessing our Instagram feeds with her unique, DIY designs, Nicole McLaughlin has gone one step beyond making clothes from the creatures of Animal Crossing and instead recreated her entire studio (where we hope she'll make some of her innovative clothing eventually tbh). With a number of her notable shoes photographed on the wall, the studio is even kitted out with one of her bespoke chairs.

RAF SIMONS

Recreating the Belgian designer’s AW15 campaign imagery, shot by Willy Vanderperre, this look features a sweater vest from the same Raf Simons collection. Coming in green and red and patterned with geometrical shapes, this virtual designer also took on a jumper detailed with flying birds. With Simons basing much of his work on the exploration of youth culture, maybe a children’s game is the perfect virtual world for his iconic creations to live on in.

LUDOVIC DE SAINT SERNIN

Ludovic de Saint Sernin’s clothes are sexy. They challenge gender norms through wet-look pieces, barely-there diamond tops, and towel skirts. And by the look on this little avatar’s face, he knows exactly who he’s wearing and exactly what that means. Coming from the French designer’s SS20 collection, this neutral short and top look is even finished with dripping detailing. 

PRADA

We, too, like to wear our Prada fits with a pair of cinema 3D glasses. Recreating the Italian brand’s SS14 presentation, which printed murals on its brightly coloured clothing, this design picks up on two pieces from the collection, with one brown fur coat, finished off with rainbow detailing, and a dress embossed with a pop-art-like design. Side note, this Prada show was very special because “Work Bitch” by Britney Spears was on the soundtrack. Just thought you all should be aware. 

RICK OWENS

Running through a lavender field in Rick Owens’ most recent collection would be quite nice right about now. But we will settle for living vicariously through this Animal Crossing person who is sporting a black geometrical piece from the designer’s AW20 collection. Glam rock-inspired, this look is even finished off with Rick’s signature platform boots, because, of course. We will have to sit and wait for someone to recreate that look Michele Lamy wore to the show though.