Dive Brief:
- Prada is back as the top brand on Lyst Index’s newly released Q4 2023 rankings, edging out its sister brand Miu Miu, which came in second, and dropping Loewe to third place. This is the third time Prada has held the top position since Lyst began reporting rankings in 2018.
- Lyst credited Prada’s “thoughtful, cohesive collections” for a 41% year-on-year increase in searches. Worldwide demand for the brand was driven by the opening of the Pradasphere II exhibit in Shanghai, Prada’s collaboration with Axiom Space to design NASA’s lunar spacesuits and a holiday campaign featuring actors Maya Hawke, Damson Idris, Louis Partridge and Kim Tae-Ri, according to Lyst.
- Quiet luxury brand The Row, co-founded by celebrities Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, ranked 18th. Demand for the label was up 93% for the quarter, per the report, which said it occupied “the sartorial hole left by Phoebe Philo’s departure from Céline.” The Row’s Margaux bag was Lyst’s hottest product, with searches up 63% for the quarter and 198% year-on-year.
Dive Insight:
Despite a spending slowdown that hit the luxury sector particularly hard at the end of 2023, fashion customers “are not willing to compromise on brand,” said the report. However, Lyst added that to garner a spot in its quarterly rankings, “a brand must deliver on attention and emotion.”
For luxury, that involves not only product but a brand story that also includes visuals, campaigns and content, per a recent report from Highsnobiety.
Second place brand Miu Miu accomplished that with a “confident, creative aesthetic” that Lyst said continued to “shape the trend cycle.” The brand’s cherry-red kitten heels “had a halo effect on the shoe category,” per the report, which said demand for kitten heels was up 49% in November 2023. In addition, a holiday campaign with actor Emma Corrin and events in Tokyo and New York helped keep the brand near the top of the ranking.
Balenciaga climbed two places to the 12th spot a year after its controversial ad campaigns saw the brand tumble in rankings, which prompted the Lyst report to question whether a fashion brand can ever truly be canceled.
Breakout brands in the report, as defined by labels that deliver “consistent brand heat and sales volume on a global scale,” included Victoria Beckham, Ralph Lauren and On, which drew attention for releasing a popular sneaker collaboration with third-place brand Loewe.
Ugg, which returned to the top-20 brand rankings this quarter for the first time since 2022, was the 17th most popular brand, but had the sixth most popular product with its Tasman slippers.
Lyst, a fashion technology company and shopping app, calculates quarterly rankings based on shopper behavior, social media mentions, consumer searches both on and off its platform, product views and sales, and activity and engagement statistics worldwide.
