When Fortnite came out almost 10 years ago, it made a huge impact on Gen Z. I remember playing the game for the first time in 2018. I would try to win each game by hiding from players instead of fighting, which was an awful technique. I also remember oohing and ahhing at the skins in the item shop (I never bought any because I preferred using my allowance on Roblox). I proceeded to stop playing Fortnite that same year, but I picked it back up during winter break of 2025. When I opened the game for the first time, I immediately went to the shop and got overwhelmed with all the new items. I remember thinking, “Whoa! That’s a lot of stuff!”
Since I’ve been gone from the game, a whole new world of content has been put on my radar. So I decided to do my research to dive deeper into how these items came to be.
Collaborations With Fortnite
Fortnite does a great job at creating fun items for players to use, but they also excel at designing items when collaborating with other brands. Whether that be a clothing brand, food chain, movies, shows or even other video games. Think of any brand, and I guarantee you they more than likely have a collaboration with Fortnite.
Most notably, Fortnite’s work with clothing brands and design houses has been using some really chic design choices and styling options. The first one that immediately comes to mind is Fortnite’s collaboration with renowned Spanish design house Balenciaga. Characters like Ramirez and Doggo were adorned in the house’s signature streetwear, sequins and their famous chunky sunglasses. My favorite skin from this collection is the Fashion Banshee, rocking Balenciaga’s signature catsuit in a shimmery gold. I think this collaboration was the perfect emergence into the fashion industry, with not only content being produced for the game, but also in-store merchandise at Balenciaga for players to purchase. Fortnite has also done similar collabs with Ralph Lauren, Adidas and Moncler, but I believe that Balenciaga takes the cake for being a perfect balance of playfulness and style.
Power to the people
According to Epic Games, Fortnite has over 110 million players. Naturally, a lot of those players have ideas that they want to share with the company. Despite not giving users the ability to create custom user-generated content (UGC) like Roblox, they are very attentive to what their fanbase wants. For instance, in one of the most recent updates, players have been given the chance to purchase Italian brain-rot characters such as Tung Tung Tung Sahur and Ballerina Capuccina. Which, probably in a couple of months, will be unrecognizable. However, I think it is incredible how closely Epic Games is able to look at these trends with such detail and develop content with such a brief turnaround.
With that being said, using items from the shop is the perfect way for players to further their self-expression on the battlefield. With so many options and potential combinations, the possibilities are endless. The best part about Fortnite using fashion as a way to connect with its players is that this is only just the beginning. We could see future opportunities for items from the game being sold in real life as merchandise, maybe even completely customizable avatars and new kinds of accessories for characters to wear. Personally, I choose to rock skins of some of my favorite icons like Chappell Roan and Kill Bill. I hope to see more collaborations that are more feminine and made for Fortnite’s female audience. Maybe we could see collaborations with makeup companies like Glossier, Morphe or Charlotte Tilbury, maybe even customizable makeup options for avatars? There is so much untapped potential for Fortnite to use, and I am so excited to see what they create!