We do love a list in the fashion world. We are almost akin to footballers in this regard. Give us a list, a ranking, an awards ceremony and we get dressed up and are pretty focused. I blame it all on our inherent insecurity, but whatevs. The latest list to be announced, this week, is the world's most powerful luxury brands — most of which are fashion related.
Millward Brown Optimor, a division of WPP, released its annual list of the World’s Most Powerful Brands yesterday. This year the category is up 19% as a whole, almost back to pre-recession levels, which I think is a delightful surprise for everyone and bodes well for the coming year and the ongoing success of the high fashion industry.
There was slight some shifting of rank order in this year’s list compared to last year, but most brands made pretty fantastic gains. The three big reasons for this? Asia’s appetite for luxury, a focus on brand heritage, and, most importantly, the savvy use of digital media. Chanel and Burberry, who is new to the list this year, both did digital in innovative ways while maintaining their luxury brand integrity.
1. Louis Vuitton (1) overall brand value: up 23% to $24.312 billion
2. Hermès (2) overall brand value: up 41% to $11.917 billion
3. Gucci, (3) overall brand value: down 2% to $7.449 billion
4. Chanel (4) overall brand value: up 23% to $6.823 billion
5. Cartier (8) overall brand value: up 34% to $5.327 billion
6. Rolex (6) overall brand value: up 11% to $5.269 billion
7. Hennessy (5) overall brand value: down 7% to $4.997 billion
8. Moët & Chandon (7) overall brand value: up 7% to $4.570 billion
9. Fendi (9) overall brand value: up 7% to $3.422 billion
10. Burberry (-) overall brand value: up 86% billion
What do you guys think of this list? What you expected?