IT is not a surprise that Gucci was the world’s hottest fashion brand for 2018. Everyone wanted a piece of Gucci, whether it was a pair of sneakers, a backpack or even slides. Gucci was cool. It was a brand everybody wanted to wear.
Global fashion platform Lyst recently released its final quarterly ranking of brands and products for 2018. Lyst looked at up to 5 million shoppers’ habits online, from searching and browsing to social-media engagement and actual purchases across 12,000 designers and stores.
Virgil Abloh’s Off-White was the world’s hottest brand from October to December, but Gucci took back its first-place spot for fourth quarter. Gucci was the most searched and shopped for brand throughout 2017 and early 2018.
Lyst attributed this to successful sales in its accessories category. Italian brands took up most of the Lyst Index, including Moncler (#4), Fendi (#5), Versace (#6) and Valentino (#9). But Moncler’s performance seemed most impressive, as the Italian brand jumped 12 places up to the fourth spot. Other brands in the Top 10 included Balenciaga (#3), Stone Island (#7), Vetements (#8) and Burberry (#10).
The top 2 most popular Gucci items were a bag and the famous logo belt, which you’d see on three out of five people if you went clubbing.
Gucci’s parent company Kering said Gucci’s topped €8 billion for the first time at a growth of 36.9 percent. The growth came from all product categories, with leather goods such as handbags and shoes making up the biggest portion.
Gucci recently figured in a blackface sweater controversy. Images of the sweater, a wool balaclava jumper that sells for $890, were shared on social media and resulted in a backlash. The sweater is supposed to cover half of the face, and there’s a hole for the mouth, which is outlined in red.
Gucci has since apologized for the sweater, which has also been recalled.
“Gucci deeply apologizes for the offense caused by the wool balaclava jumper. We consider diversity to be a fundamental value to be fully upheld, respected and at the forefront of every decision we make. We are fully committed to increasing the diversity throughout our organization and turning this incident into a powerful learning moment for the Gucci team and beyond,” said the company in a statement released on Twitter.
It will be interesting to see if Gucci remains the hottest fashion brand for 2019, and if my daughter and the children of my friends continue to aspire for buying a pair of sneakers from the brand. This, to me, is the biggest indication of how hot Gucci is.