Balenciaga Rewrites Luxury Fashion’s Rules, Ranks #1 On Lyst’s Q1 2022 Index – Retail Bum

During the peak of the pandemic, Balenciaga’s creative director Demna Gvasalia wrote: “In a time like this, fashion loses its relevance and its actual right to exist.” This was a time when shoppers were trading in evening dresses and business attire for sweats and athleisure wear — two categories fashion creatives like Demna might find limiting.

But it looks like Demna found a way to turn up the heat in both segments.

According to the Lyst Index, a quarterly ranking of fashion’s hottest brands and products, Balenciaga has retained the number one spot for Q1 2022 as demand for the luxury label spiked 108% this quarter.

Balenciaga can credit a few major moments to its win, like its FW ’22 Snowstorm show in Paris, its new three-floor flagship located on Bond Street in London, and its two campaign drops featuring Justin Bieber and Kim Kardashian.

And across all these moments, Demna featured multiple variations of the boot leggings that Kim Kardashian has continuously sported as well as articles of clothing that tend to blur lines between high fashion and athleisurewear.

Continuing on that note, Balenciaga also teamed up with Kanye West, aka Ye, for YEEZY GAP ENGINEERED BY BALENCIAGA for a collection featuring eight styles, including Gap-branded hoodies, a padded denim jacket, tees, and jeans, ranging from $120 to $440.

The move to accommodate lower price points typically seen in the high fashion category was to make YEEZY much more attainable to consumers.

“It is a vision come true to work with Gap and Demna, the creative director of Balenciaga, to make the incredible products available to everyone at all times,” Ye told Vogue in January.

Following Balenciaga in the number two spot for hottest brands in Q1 2022 is Gucci. The brand was recognized for its second drop of The North Face x Gucci collection and its Adidas collaboration, which was revealed during its FW ’22 runway show. The success of these collections helped Gucci accelerate its revenue growth by 32% in the fourth quarter.

Louis Vuitton came in at number three for its final show featuring Virgil Abloh’s work, the founder of Off-White and the former men’s artistic director for Louis Vuitton. Abloh died at the age of 41 on November 28, 2021, from a rare and aggressive form of cancer called cardiac angiosarcoma.

Prada ranked number four, followed by Valentino, Dior, Moncler, Bottega Veneta, Fendi, and Miu Mui.

In terms of the hottest products for the quarter, in the women’s category, Naked Wolfe’s knee-thigh heeled boots claimed the number one spot, followed by UGG’s Classic ultra mini boot, Miu Mui’s miniskirt, and the Moon Boots Icon nylon snow boots. For the full list, click here.

In the menswear category, New Balance’s P550 Aimé Leon Dore’s took the number one spot, followed by Prada’s Triangle shoulder bag. The North Face 1996 Retro Nuptse Jacket came in at number three, followed by Balenciaga’s Defender sneakers and the Adidas Originals Gazelle sneakers. For the full list, click here.

Lyst is a fashion technology company and premium shopping app used by more than 160 million people each year to browse, discover, and buy items from 17,000 brands and stores. The methodology behind The Lyst Index considers Lyst shopper behavior, including searches on and off the platform, product views, and sales. To track brand and product heat, the methodology also incorporates social media mentions, activity, and engagement statistics worldwide over three months.