Fast-fashion industry worth less than last year

According to the annual report published by Brand Finance, Nike is the brand with the most value in the world thanks to its 33.2 billion dollars, a growth of 9% compared to last year but lower than the 34.8 of 2020. The biggest increase, however, was marked by Louis Vuitton, with a growth of 58% compared to last year, thus going from 14.9 billion in 2021 to 23.4 billion in the current year. In general, luxury brands seem to be recovering after the decline of the last two years dictated by Covid. In addition to Vuitton, Gucci and Armani are also part of the list of growing brands, while Boss and Bottega Veneta have joined the Top 50. If luxury seems to be growing, the same cannot be said of the fast-fashion sector where brands such as Zara, Uniqlo, Primark and H&M have lost 1% and 26% of their value.

The closure of physical stores due to the pandemic has had a huge impact on the value of these companies, which often rely on in-store shopping to drive large amounts of revenue and have seen shoppers' habits change in favor of online shopping during a period like the pandemic. «Since the start of the pandemic, market dynamics in the industry have changed dramatically,» said Richard Haigh, Managing Director of Brand Finance. «With convenience at the center of their marketing strategy, luxury and sportswear brands have committed to improving their online services.» It is precisely sportswear that has seen some of the most significant growth over the past twelve months, thanks in particular to the rise of Li-Ning, which was able to increase its value by more than 68% year-on-year. With him also Sketchers, adidas, Puma and Lululemon, arrived to be worth over 4 billion dollars. Two of these, Nike and adidas, are part of the list of the ten brands with the highest value on the market, a list that also sees Gucci, Chanel, Hermes and Cartier, in addition to the already mentioned fast-fashion brands.

Although for many markets the pandemic seems to be behind us, the impact of more than two years of lockdown has had repercussions that continue to manifest themselves over the long term. If the entire fast-fashion sector has lost 7% of its value, going from 44 billion to 41 billion, it will be next year that will show us the true buying habits of the market, certifying or overturning the 2022 figures.