15 Years of the Bitmoji

Born in Toronto, Canada in 2007, the personalized comic strip builder called Bitstrips made it possible for anyone to express ideas in a fun, creative storytelling format. Years later, it evolved into the ‘personal emoji’ Bitmoji, which is now used by over 250 million people every day and is an integral part of how the Snapchat community expresses and represents themselves online.

With more than 1 billion Bitmoji avatars created worldwide, the digital avatar rooted in representation and self-expression remains committed to its mission to provide more ways for the community to express themselves quickly, creatively and authentically across digital platforms.

BUILDING BITMOJI:

Bitmoji is a fusion of art and technology. While there is sophisticated tech underneath, all of the content, images and AR experiences are fuelled by artists and people who think in cartoons and innovate in response to community feedback. The Bitmoji team thinks about how people are communicating in their everyday conversations and the emotions they feel — and how people can be represented in meaningful and authentic ways. For example, when it comes to Bitmoji stickers, the team first-hand sketches each design, and then renders and builds those designs in a tool that scales for our community. But core to Bitmoji and Bitmoji fashion is our sublime artwork. There is a great deal of care and craftsmanship involved in translating real garments into the Bitmoji world – down to the last stitch.

BITMOJI FASHION

Just like in real life, fashion/style is an integral part of people’s digital identities. In order to feel truly represented by your Bitmoji, it needs to look like you, emote like you, and dress like you. Today, there are over a trillion possible outfit combinations available for your Bitmoji, creating endless opportunities for your digital wardrobe. Because we believe that Bitmoji should represent who you are in the most fun and authentic way possible, you’re given the opportunity to build an outfit with one garment at a time, exactly how you would in the real world:

Bitmoji fashion launched in 2015, and since then beloved brands like Nike, Jordan Brand, Off-White, Levi’s, Converse, Ralph Lauren, Crocs, Carhartt and more have collaborated with Bitmoji to create custom items and looks to share exclusively with our community.

Today, many fashion collections are approached the same way as hyped-up product drops. In fact, Bitmoji Drops, introduced to our community in September of this year, allows Snapchatters to access exclusive digital fashion items directly in Snapchat for their Bitmoji, for a limited time only.

Our fashion offerings have evolved over the years, starting from a limited selection of prebuilt outfits, to our current library of fully mix and matchable looks, featuring our community’s favorite fashion brands.

BITMOJI FASHION LAUNCH TYPES

• Collection: Curated collections that feature core items from brands. Our collections are available to all Bitmoji users and typically have a permanent home in Bitmoji Fashion. Collection Examples: Off-White, Levi's, Nike, Vans.
• Drop: A drop is an exclusive digital fashion item that Snapchatters can access for their Bitmoji, for a limited time only. Prior to our first drop in September 2022, all of Bitmoji’s fashion content was abundantly available to users, and the majority of our garments remained in our library for many years. Our Drops mirror real world product drops and scarcity techniques that are widely used in the fashion industry to create more hype, interest, and perceived value around fashion.
• Unlockable: Items that are not universally available to users on Snapchat – users have to scan a Snapcode or click a special link in order to access the item. Unlockables enable brands to offer exclusive content to their consumers through their own channels.

BITMOJI BY THE NUMBERS:

• Bitmoji is used by more than 250 million people every day
• Our community has sent over 160 billion Bitmoji stickers
• Over 1 billion Bitmoji avatars have been created
• Over 75% of the 13-24 Gen Z population in Canada have a Bitmoji avatar
• Representation and DE&I is an integral part of Bitmoji's design principles:
• When Bitmoji introduced wheelchair stickers in 2021, they were used to represent our community over one million times in the first month following the launch.
• Bitmoji users who send wheelchair stickers in Chat share stickers eight times more than other Bitmoji Chat users
• Canadian Bitmoji users love to… laugh! The most popular Bitmoji sticker used this year by Canadians is this one.

Today, there are over a trillion possible outfit combinations available for your Bitmoji, creating endless opportunities for your digital wardrobe.

Over two million Snapchatters claimed the Air Jordan 2 x J Balvin sneakers for their Bitmoji in the first two days following the limited edition Drop.

The Nike collection for Bitmoji launched late last year, and people used their Bitmoji avatars to try on Nike products more than 2 billion times within the first two months (2022). This signals the growing interest from the Bitmoji community to engage with fashion brands and further explore the world of digital style.

This article is provided by Bitmoji. Read more about Bitmoji and Team Snap HERE.