Balenciaga is Still the World's Hottest Brand, And Here's Why...

Even with everything that happened within the fashion world last year, you’d be hard-pressed to find a brand that had a more successful year than Balenciaga. And, thanks to Lyst’s quarterly trend report, its reign continues for a second consecutive quarter, beating the likes of Gucci and Louis Vuitton to the top spot. The fashion house, headed by Demna Gvasalia (who now goes by just Demna) topped product searches and sales on Lyst’s platform, and dominated Google searches and social media mentions too.

Now fashion is a fickle industry, and staying at the top of the game requires a number of strategies that are designed to capture attention, get people talking, and ideally, inspire purchases. Last year Balenciaga pulled a number of stunts to market themselves – from tapping Justin Bieber as the face of the brand, to collaborating with The Simpsons, Fortnite and Crocs, as well as debuting Demna’s couture collection for the house. The second half of the year also saw them team up with Gucci for the “Hacker Project,” a move that eventually landed Gucci the number 2 spot on the list.

Of course, it’s hard to list off Balenciaga’s Q4 achievements without mentioning the Kanye effect. The rapper was spotted wearing the brand for the second half of last year, and Demna creative directed Ye's DONDA listening parties and merchandise. Kim Kardashian (at the time, Kardashian West) had some important Balenciaga moments as well – she was even joined by Demna at the Met Gala. After news of their impending divorce broke, both Kim and Ye continued to wear the brand, sparking rumours that Balenciaga was treating paparazzi shots as an undercover marketing campaign.

2022 has since started strong for the brand too. Earlier this year Ye announced that Balenciaga would be joining his existing partnership with Gap to create “Yeezy Gap Engineered by Balenciaga,” and he continues to dress his new girlfriend, Julia Fox in their collections, so we really wouldn’t be surprised to see Demna carry the title way into 2022.

As mentioned, Lyst’s findings placed Gucci at the number 2 spot, and the third spot went to Prada. Louis Vuitton came in 4th, and Moncler took 5th place. The World’s Hottest Products included the Fear of God Essentials Hoodie, and the Yeezy NSLTD BT.

Head over to Lyst to check out the rest of the rankings, and be sure to let us know your thoughts over on Twitter.

Up next, the Louis Vuitton x Nike Air Force 1 is being auctioned at Sotherbys.