PacSun, a California-based retailer, has partnered with Lil Miquela, a 19-year-old CGI influencer boasting three million followers on Instagram, to cement its digital reach with its core Gen-Z demographic.

Lil Miquela, the first-ever virtual influencer of her kind, will collaborate with PacSun on social content around its back-to-school and holiday campaigns. Their partnership started with Complex’s third annual metaverse event, Centraland, a video-game-like virtual music festival. She previously partnered with Prada, Dior, and Calvin Klein on a number of similar campaigns, and was on Time’s Most Influential People of the Internet in 2018.

“Miquela has become a digital muse for PacSun, and we’re thrilled to be working with a great example of a strong female advocate and inspiration,” said Brieane Olson, president at PacSun. “She aligns with our core brand values and vision … speaking out on important social issues like BLM and Rally the Vote, as well as achieving inroads into metaverse fashion and culture.”

The idea of digital influencers caught on as a way to circumvent the headache of working with human influencers, as well as maximize the number of partnership that the digital influencer can take on in one go. Zero, another digital influencer, led the launch of the latest Galaxy phone for Samsung earlier this year, and Sophie, a digital influencer created by New Zealand-based tech firm Uneeq, worked with brands like BMW and Deutsche Telekom.