Category: Misc Events

As I noted in In Vogue (+ Elsewhere): Second Life and Designer Fashion (and courtesy of the likes of Vogue and UK Glamour), Second Life has been making headlines in the world of fashion of late, coinciding with the “Big Four” fashion cities – New York, London, Madrid and Paris – host their semi-annual Fashion Weeks.

The reason for all the media interest – with still more to come! – is because amidst all the on-going hype around many fashion designers diving into the waters of NFTs and the like, New York fashion designer Jonathan Simkhai decided to go a step further and team-up with Blueberryxx and her Blueberry team to offer a special preview of a selection of pieces from his Autumn / Winter 2022 (AW22) at a special show in Second Life ahead of the items being unveiled at his New York Fashion Week show – with the added element that some of the collection would later be made available for sale within Second Life.

In all, 11 of Simkhai’s AW22 collection were given a Second Life “makeover” by the Blueberry team (with one being given that special SL zing, converting from a shimmer gown to a leotard whilst worn). These were initially presented to a special gathering of VIPs from the physical world – models, influencers, celebrities, and journalists  from the fashion, technology and lifestyle industries – at a previewing show held in-world on Tuesday, February 15th, 2022 – itself an interesting challenge, one worth of exploration – and Blueberryxx was willing to take the time to do so with me.

As people frequently point out, for those unfamiliar with Second Life, getting to grips with the platform is no easy matter; just getting comfortable with the viewer and figuring out the basics controls can be difficult enough, leave alone anything else. And when you have a group of dignitaries coming into the platform to see a show, you need to be able to make everything as seamless as possible, and add a little fun to the process.

To achieve this, the Blueberry team did a number of things. Ahead of the event, they prepared bespoke avatars for each of the VIPs, modelled around a photograph of each guest’s face. Each guest was also able to select an item from the SL “Simkhai collection” in which their avatar could be dressed.

On the day of the event itself, the VIPs were able to log into SL and there avatars at the venue, where the real magic began, as Blueberryxx explained:

We wanted to make sure the outside press would have an easy time therefore and so shine a more positive light on SL. We knew that if they had to learn how to cam during the show they were going to have a hard time. And while we  would have loved to have models controlled by humans, the mainstream press hasn’t always been kind to Second Life, and we didn’t want to risk distractions and negativity in having a model crash or fall off the runway or anything like that; we wanted guests focused on the show and the outfits

So we made it almost like watching a short movie: we scripted a Second Life Experience which could take the VIP avatars, seat them at the main runway, and then control their camera for them as the models moved. Then we used Corrade to control the models, allowing us to move them smoothly and have pre-loaded animations ready to play on them.

– Blueberryxx

For those unfamiliar with Corrade, it is an open metaverse scripted agent (bot) library that has a lot of extensibility. For the Second Life Metaverse Fashion Show, it meant that the 11 models (plus the Jonathan Simkhai avatar) could be placed on a “base vehicle” pre-loaded with animations (a basic walk and a series of modelling poses), which could then follow a scripted path along the catwalk runways (each base turning transparent just before the model appear on the catwalk), giving the illusion each model was “walking”, with keyframes being used to halt each base and trigger the poses.

All of the movements of the bots on their “vehicles” was coordinated by a central script system, resulting in a smooth, professional show easily equal to any physical world catwalk show, perfectly timed and executed and with none of the pitfalls of using “regular” avatars. Meanwhile, the venue’s Experience ensure the VIPs received smooth views of the passing models and their outfits, unencumbered with having to worry about the complexities of using the viewer.

Following the VIP show, Blueberry hosted a total of 8 “public” shows across Thursday, February 17th and Friday, February 18th 2022 for Second Life users. For these events, members of the Blueberry bloggers group were able to witness the show just as the physical world VIPs had, joining the Experience and then letting that take over seating them, etc. Non-group members could then view the shows from adjoining regions, with the 11 models completing walks around runways that extend out and around the venue from the end of the main catwalk.

This split between “VIP” and “non-VIP” apparently caused some grumbling at some of the shows, as it hadn’t been fully communicated ahead of the event. But on the whole, everything worked well: the extended catwalks around the main venue region meant those on the adjoining regions still had plenty of opportunities to appreciate the designs as model parade along them.

Despite the grumbles that were voiced, the majority of the “non-VIPs” at the public shows (myself included) were content to sit at the edge of the main venue region and cam over to watch things (which also gave me the opportunity to sneak some backstage looks to see how things were being run!). And the Blueberry team is certainly keen to make improvements in the future.

The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive (I was prepared for the worst!), and we’re grateful for the understanding shown with the parts we messed up; we promise to do better in the future – more interactive features for watchers, more seating and even swag bags! 

– Blueberryxx

One of the attractions of the public shows was that Vogue had indicated the Simkhai / Blueberry outfits seen in the show would be offered for sale in-world. As there were no vendors at the venue (which would have perhaps been an ideal place to commence sales to SL users), Blueberryxx was happy to explain what was happening:

We will be offering a sub-set of those in the show, with the actual styles still subject to selection by Jonathan. We’re also discussing future opportunities for styles to be produced and sold in Second Life. However, they will all be charged at Blueberry prices; there is no premium to be charged.  

– Blueberryxx

In this, it is important to note that the garments produced by the Blueberry team for Second Life are not the same as the six NFT items being produced and sold by Everyrealm, and which were also referenced in several of the articles published after the VIP show.

Those NFTs (which Everyrealm are calling a “Metaverse Fashion Week Wearables Collection“), are being produced for use via the Ready Player Me platform, theoretically allowing them to be use across multiple games / platforms – although they do come at a premium: prices range from US S250 to – wait for it – US $2600 for the “one-off”.

All of which perhaps underlines a further value of Second Life; a major issue with NFTs is that despite the claims of “democratisation” of art, etc., they largely lean in the other direction – exclusivity through scarcity.

However, within Second Life, everyone has the opportunity to be included in the experience of appreciating / wearing luxury fashions at prices that aren’t going to hurt the bank balance. And this is something that an exploratory partnership between a top New York fashion designer and a top Second Life fashion label can only expand – and hopefully it will if Blueberryxx has a say in things, as she noted to me as we ended our conversation.

My brand is all about approachable and comfortable and a easy to enter community, something Jonathan understands, so we are in discussions about a possible future permanent collection collaboration.

– Blueberryxx

In the meantime, I’m looking forward to setting some of the initial Blueberry versions of Simkhai’s designs becoming generally available in SL, and – hopefully to seeing the discussions of around further collaborations bearing fruit in the future.

My thanks to Blueberryxx for her time and assistance in writing this piece, and to Sophia Harlow for putting us in direct contact outside of SL.

January 19th, 2021 marks the 212th anniversary of the birth of American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic Edgar Allan Poe, and to mark the event, the week of January 18th through 23rd will include a series of special Poe-inspired events and activities organised by Shandon Loring for the enjoyment of everyone.

Born in Boston, in 1809 as Edgar Poe, he never got to know his birth parents: his father deserted mother and children (he was the second of two boys born to David and Elizabeth Poe) in 1810, and his mother died the following year. This led to Poe’s informal adoption by John and Frances Allan, from whom he took his middle name. It’s not clear how “happy” his upbringing may have been – his adoptive father apparently alternately spoiled him and disciplined him – but his adoption led to travel to the United Kingdom, where he received his education in both Scotland and London, before the Allans moved back to the United States in 1820.

As a young man, Poe attended the fledgling University of Virginia to continue his education. However, and despite the strict rules there against tobacco, alcohol and gambling, he ran up significant debts to the point were he and John Allan – now a wealthy man – quarrelled with him over his time there, eventually refusing to provide money to cover Poe’s debts or pay for his education and accommodation, forcing him to leave the university after just a year.

Moving from job to job in an attempt to earn an income, Poe eventually turned to the Army, enlisting under a false name and lying about his age. He initially did well in uniform rising to the rank of Sergeant Major in 1829, just two years after his enlistment. However, this period also also saw the publication of his first book, Tamerlane and Other Poems, and whilst not a significant success (the book was only credited to “A Bostonian”), the 40-page volume gave Poe more of a desire to be a writer. This in turn prompted him to try to seek an early discharge from the Army – which proved difficult to obtain until his estranged foster father agreed to help –  on the condition he attend West Point military academy.

However, fate again played a hand again as just before Poe started his West point studies in 1830, some of his poetry received a favourable review by the influential critic John Neal. This caused Poe to dedicate one of the poems in his second volume of work Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems, to Neal. It also made Poe more determined to continue as a writer, in part causing him to have himself dismissed from the academy. This happened in 1831, almost coinciding with the publication of his third volume of poems.

Being a writer in the United States at that time was not easy. There were no international copyright laws, so US publishers preferred to print unauthorised copies of works by British writers rather than pay American authors for original pieces. However, Poe persisted, and managed to win a modest literary prize from a Boston newspaper. This raised his profile sufficiently to bring Poe to the attention of novelist and lawyer, John Pendleton Kennedy, who in turn introduced Poe to Thomas W. White, editor of the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond, who hired Poe as assistant editor.

Thanks to Poe’s drinking habits, his relationship with White didn’t initially go well: he was fired within weeks for being drunk on the job, but was re-hired following his marriage to his 13-year-old cousin, Victoria Clemm, in1835. This marked the start of a career as an editor, writer and critic working for a number of publications over the next few years which enhanced Poe’s reputation as a critic of note and competent writer of short stories. At the same time, he published his first – and only – full-length novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, whilst increasing success caused him to – unsuccessfully, likely due to his drinking habits – try for a career in politics.

By the 1840s, Poe was well established as a writer, and the following years saw him publish what would become his most well-known works, including: The Fall of the House of Usher, The Murders in the Rue Morgue (credited as the first modern detective story), The Pit and the Pendulum, The Masque of the Red Death, The Black Cat, Lenore, and more. All of which led up to the publication of what is arguably his most famous piece, The Raven (January 1845); a piece which made him a household name at the time – although it only earned him $9 writer’s fee (about $308.23 today).

Victoria Poe died of tuberculous in 1847. Her death, together with the deaths of a number of women in his life, is often stated to be the driving force behind his literary focus on “the death of a beautiful woman”. Following her passing, Poe’s behaviour became increasingly erratic, and his attempts at with relationships with other women met with mixed success, although he did become engaged to former childhood sweetheart Sarah Royster in the latter part of Summer 1949.

However, before they could be wed, Poe left on a trip to New York in late September 1849, and on October 3rd, he was found wandering the streets of Baltimore, delirious and wearng clothes that were not his own. What he was doing there remains unknown, but he was taken to hospital, where he continued in an agitated, dire condition, finally dying on the morning of October 7th, 1849, after allegedly spending the night before repeatedly calling out the name “Reynolds” – although who that might have been, if true, also remains unknown.

One of the earliest practitioners of the short story, as well as later being regarded as leader of Romanticism and Gothic literature in the United States, Poe himself became a subject of Romantic and Gothic thinking as rumours about his death circulated, spurred by the mystery of of how and when he arrived in Baltimore and why he was there. At the same time, his reputation as a Gothic Romantic was cemented with the posthumous publication of his last complete poem, Annabel Lee.

To mark the anniversary of his birth, Shandon Loring will be leading readings of many of Poe’s most famous works in both Second Life and Kitely, supported by live video and audio streaming and the opportunity to read along with events. The celebration will also feature Seanchai Library alumni Dubhna Rhiadra, Corwyn Allen and Kayden OConnell, and include 24/7 audio listening rooms where you can hear Poe’s stories and poems, and stories and poems inspired by Poe at a time of your choosing – see below for links.

At the time of writing, the schedule for the event was as follows – please be sure to check the 2021 Edgar Allan Poe Celebration website (all times are SLT) for updates and additions to the programme:

Monday, January 18th
10:00	Stories and Poems The Raven The Fall of the House of Usher Lenore Annabelle Lee
Tuesday, January 19th
10:00	Stories and Poems Check the website for details
15:00	Stories and Poems Check the website for details
Wednesday, January 20th
10:00	Stories and Poems Check the website for details
Thursday, January 21st
10:00	Stories and Poems Check the website for details
17:00	The Edgar Allen Poe Dance 1 Dance to Poe-inspired tunes – playlist
19:00	William Wilson Shandon Loring reads Poe’s 1839 short story at Seanchai Library
Friday, January 22nd
10:00	Stories and Poems Check the website for details
Saturday, January 23rd
11:00	Welcome with Shandon Loring
11:10	The Raven – Corwyn Allen
11:20	Eleanor – Corwyn Allen
11:40	The 10,002 Tale of Scheherazade – Dubhna Rhiadra
12:00	Dream Within A Dream – Kayden OConnell

SLurls and Links

• Edgar Allen Poe Celebration in Second Life (
• Edgar Allen Poe Celebration in Kitely
• Edgar Allen Poe website
• 24/7 Listening Rooms
  • Traditional Poe tales
  • Tales inspired by Poe
• Livestreams (only available during sessions at the event):
  • You Tube
  • Shoutcast (audio)