As Pokémon celebrates its 30th anniversary, the franchise is experiencing an unexpected evolution in fashion.From the recent JimmyPaul collaboration presented during London Fashion Week to growing lifestyle partnerships and capsule collections, Pokémon is increasingly moving beyond gaming and into culture-led spaces.
But while many brands such as Uniqlo, are approaching the moment through merchandise and nostalgia-driven drops, UK creator Marygrace Tropeano is taking a different approach entirely.
Through her ongoing series Pokopia, Tropeano reimagines Pokémon as high-fashion and beauty editorial transforming character “types” into full fashion personas through sculptural silhouettes, beauty looks, movement and styling.
The project bridges runway and TikTok, using pieces from JimmyPaul’s Pokémon collaboration to explore how gaming IP can evolve into something more narrative and image-led. Rather than literal cosplay, Pokopia positions Pokémon as a visual language for identity – where electric, psychic or fire “types” become fully realised fashion archetypes.
Mary-Grace creates her make-up look on the right using Tom Ford Radiance foundation SPF 50, Prada Blush and YSL Lip Liner.
At a time when creators are increasingly acting as creative directors, projects like Pokopia reflect a broader shift happening across fashion and internet culture: audiences are no longer just consuming characters, but embodying them.
The beauty direction plays a central role in this transformation.
Glossed vinyl skin, exaggerated contouring, hyper-pigmented colour placement and wet-finish textures push the looks beyond traditional beauty editorial into something more cinematic and digitally native. Rather than using makeup conventionally, the beauty styling functions almost as character construction — echoing the heightened emotional codes often associated with gaming and fantasy worlds.
Products used across the looks include high-shine skin finishes, graphic pigments and editorial textures designed to create a surreal, almost animated finish.
Key references include glass-skin techniques, reflective pigments, sharply sculpted contours and colour palettes inspired by elemental Pokémon archetypes.
The result feels less like fandom and more like fashion world-building — capturing a moment where gaming, beauty and luxury image-making are beginning to speak the same language.
