There are rankings for everything, online and elsewhere. Luxury is well aware of this because the rankings that are chased from week to week and event to event certify the reputation of its brands. As a result, they justify a whole series of production, communication, and sales strategies. For example, did you know that, according to Time, Balenciaga is the most influential fashion house in the world?
In the age of technology and digital, everything is measurable and measured. And there is always a ranking around the corner waiting for you. That of the most valuable brand, the best company to work for, or the most sustainable enterprise. The brand with the most searches on the web and the brand with the most interactions per event. Increasingly, what is at stake is an intangible value of “serious concreteness”, because strategies of varying scope are built on it. This statement does not sound like a contradiction because the value we are talking about is that of ‘reputation‘.
The value of reputation
In the end, a rollercoaster always ends up rewarding the familiar names that dominate the luxury scene. It doesn’t take a league table to discover that LVMH is the biggest company, not just financially but in the industry. Or that Hermès handbags are unsurpassed in keeping their value almost intact when resold. Or that Balenciaga and Gucci are the fashion brands of the moment. However, you can’t do without the weekly ranking, which is chock-full of “hot brands”, new entries, up and down brands based on new products and latest events. Nothing goes unnoticed in the web sieve.
For example, LVMH (but not only)
LVMH is first in Deloitte’s Global Powers of Luxury Goods 2021, which ranks companies by sales. Louis Vuitton ranks first among luxury brands in Brand Finance’s 500 most valuable international brands. But it is second behind Nike in Brand Finance Apparel (2022), which reveals the average value of the top 50 apparel brands. Gucci triumphed in the UBS Evidence Lab survey.
A ranking for everything
Launchemtrics churns out rankings for every event: fashion shows (Dior triumphed in Paris, for example), the Grammy awards (Versace took the lead), the Sanremo Festival (Gucci won), and even the wedding of Nicola Peltz and Brooklyn Beckham (Valentino won by a landslide). Hermès, on the other hand, was crowned PurseBop (the Hermés Birkin 30 bag was the best investment of 2021) and Rebag (the house’s bags retain 90% of their original value).
Then comes Balenciaga
One of the most coveted accolades, however, went to Balenciaga (thanks in part to its alienating and disruptive collaboration with The Simpsons). According to Time magazine, the fashion house directed by Demna Gvasalia is the most influential luxury brand in the world. And that’s not all: Balenciaga is also the only fashion house included in the list of the 100 most influential companies in the world, thanks to the bold innovations made by its creative director. What’s more, it is also the brand of the moment according to the Lyst Index, which compiles a quarterly ranking based on web searches. At least until the following ranking arrives. Or has it already arrived?
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