Gucci is the most sought after brand in the world according to Lyst

Between fashion week in disarray, brands-gone-rogue, promises of renewal and woke-washing of all kinds to ride the latest progressive waves, 2020 has made us forget that, first of all, fashion is spectacle. Data that all emerge from the latest report by Lyst, the leading research platform in the fashion world, and that show how luxury consumers have remained interested in fashion and ready to buy items from those brands capable of "breaking the surface" with bold digital events.

The two brands that most advanced in Lyst's ranking, in fact, Gucci and Prada, at number one and fourth respectively, were also the ones that presented media-anticipated collections with digital events with enormous resonance.

The importance of digital media

Since 2019 Gucci has not soared to the top of the ranking of the most sought after brands in the world – a result obtained at the expense of Off-White™, now back in second position. After the presentation of the Epilogue collection in live streaming in July, views around the world exceeded 35 million – becoming the most viewed digital event of the brand ever and recording a 52% increase in searches on an annual basis. The same goes for Prada's SS21 collection: with over 10,000 viewers in live Instagram alone and more than half a million views on YouTube in the first three days of publication and now reaching 2.2 million in less than a month, the brand reached the highest position ever in Lyst's ranking reaching number four, behind Nike, which slipped to third place after taking first place in the second quarter of the year.

The rest of the brands in the ranking remained more or less stable, although the slide of Burberry that rolled from eighth to twelfth place, as well as that of adidas from thirteenth to seventeenth place. Important comebacks: Fendi climbs from ninth to sixth place by ousting Saint Laurent, Givenchy reappears in eighteenth position, Fear of God rises by only one step and, at the bottom of the ranking, makes for the first time his appearance Marine Serre, who climbs ten positions and becomes the fastest-growing brand of the quarter. Both Fendi and Givenchy received a lot of notoriety after the announcement of the two new creative directors, Kim Jones and Matthew Williams; Fear of God presented a collaboration with Ermenegildo Zegna this year, while Marine Serre, driven by the endorsement of Adele and Beyoncé, saw her crescent moon print shirt become the second most sought-after female item of the quarter, with a 426% increase in searches.

The most sought-after items

Telfar Clemens dominates the rankings of the most desired women's products with the now legendary bag that recorded an increase in requests of 270%. It is followed by marine serre's aforementioned growing moon jersey, Jacquemus' wide-brimmed hat and Bottega Veneta's boots. Surprise of the ranking is the Hockney Dress of House of Sunny, driven by a single post by Kendall Jenner, followed by various other influencers, which led the brand to a 45% increase in searches and sold-out for the dress.

Dominating the male product class is the Air Jordan 1 High OG Dior, likely the Holy Grail of the Year, followed by the much humbler (and more accessible) Boston Clog of Birkenstock, thanks to a collaboration with Stussy; Nike tracksuit pants and Ugg slippers are the other two items at the top of the list – confirming the absolute predominance of loungewear this year. The Air Max 270 "Cactus Trails" by Nike x Travis Scott is the only sneaker on the leaderboard and immediately after that behind her there are the Prada combat boots that, together with Bottega Veneta's boot in the women's ranking, highlight a survivalist/gorpcore trend that will certainly continue in the coming months. Face masks also appear among the most sought after products, especially those signed adidas, although the market has been filled with masks signed by major fashion brands such as Burberry or 1017 Alyx 9SM.