Alana Celii on Bringing Fashion Photography to Animal Crossing: New Horizons

On March 20^th, Nintendo released Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the latest installment of its popular life-simulation series. In six short weeks, the game has already sold more than 13 million copies, making ACNH one of the strongest game debuts ever for the Nintendo Switch, and putting it on track to becoming one of the top-selling Switch titles of all time. Alana Celii, NYC-based photographer and photo editor for The New York Times, counts herself among the millions of ACNH fans. Alana recently worked on a project using ACNH’s customizable wardrobe feature to create a one-of-a-kind photoshoot. She was kind enough to talk with us about the project.

Photographs © Alana Celii

M. Brett Smith: So, this is a really unique idea for a photoshoot. If I understand it correctly, you shot images of your Animal Crossing: New Horizons avatar wearing customized outfits that were based off the designs of a real clothing line—is that it?
Alana Celii: That’s right.

Nook Street Market creates customized outfits and designs for Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Who was responsible for the different clothes—the real-world maker and the digital creations?