As the world slowly but surely enters a ‘new era’, Fashion Week yet again proves to be a source of creativity, energy, and a place for new beginnings. This season bore witness to major brands joining forces with outstanding results, such as top Media Impact Value™ (MIV®) while showcasing unique activations and collaborations which saw their brand performance rise to a new level.
In this article, we break down key insights from this year’s Fashion Week by region, as well as spotlight top brands that left a mark on the season.
In this article you’ll learn…
New York Fashion Week
New York Fashion (NYFW) is back and so are physical events! This return to the runway attracted plenty of attention, as NYFW garnered almost $244M in Media Impact Value™ - an increase from last year's digital-first SS21 season, and only a 16% decrease from the pre-pandemic SS20 MIV® figures.
We saw some surprising additions to this year’s calendar such as the Dundas x Revolve collaboration which boasted the second-highest average MIV® of any brand showing at NYFW with $15.5 MIV®. This top performance was propelled by their effective use of Influencer Voices, brought back into force in large part thanks to the return to in-person shows, ultimately accounting for over 40% of the brands’ total Media Impact Value™.
As brands returned to the physical runway, we saw their performances increase significantly from previous seasons, with designers like Michael Kors, who garnered $3.4M MIV® in last year's off-season show, generating $14.2M MIV® in SS22. Tom Ford also outperformed the previous $1.6M MIV® garnered for its FW21 show, making $13M in Media Impact Value™ this season.
Brand Spotlight: Moschino
Moschino made its NYFW debut this season — and it was a success! The brand ranked first in New York's season and generated more than $16M MIV®. This is a significant improvement compared to the $3.7M MIV® they earned in SS21 at Milan Fashion Week. Moschino’s success demonstrates the power of NYFW to activate a global audience, as almost half of the brand’s MIV® was generated outside of Moschino's typical European markets, moving the attention to places like the US, the UK and Canada. With 135 placements, Moschino also leveraged their Owned Media Voice effectively, putting a strong focus on Instagram as their main channel.
London Fashion Week
London Fashion (LFW) has come back with a splash this year, storming the city to generate 36% more Media Impact Value™ than the last SS21 season, garnering a total of $49M MIV®.
One of Europe's main fashion capitals, London has proven to be an excellent launching pad for brands and designers looking to create a buzz at Fashion Week. With fewer powerhouses and heritage brands, and greater access to English-speaking media, their lineup truly showcased Fashion Week newcomers. The two brands that exemplify it this year are Nensi Dojaka and COS, two first-time LFW brands, placing 4th and 5th in our MIV® ranking respectively. For Nensi Dojaka in particular, Media Voice proved helpful in generating value - a crucial asset for designers who are yet to strengthen their Owned Media - contributing to over 90% of its total MIV®.
Brand Spotlight: COS
Consumer-focused activations are on the rise as brands recognize the value of this approach, leading to a shift in the tone of Fashion Week. Garnering $2.5M MIV® and placing 5th at LFW, the high-street brand COS leveraged Fashion Week as a key point on their consumers’ FW21 journey with a “see-now, buy-now” approach – whilst keeping to the current rebranding approach of elevating the brand’s creative cachet. Their strategy focused on Owned Media, with their owned accounts driving 20% of their total MIV®.
Milan Fashion Week
With a total of $182M in Media Impact Value™ generated this season, Milan Fashion (MFW) received even more attention this year, up from their pace of $95M in SS21, and $142M the year before for SS20.
The runway was full of surprise collaborations, starting with an unforgettable mashup of Versace and Fendi, as well as Boss and Russell Athletic joining forces - resulting in Boss jumping up to 5th place this MFW garnering over $7.5M MIV®, a boost from the $4.5M achieved last year for SS21. A contributing factor to the improved results for Boss was demonstrated in the power of Influencer Voice, which made nearly 30% of their total MIV® this season.
Brand Spotlight: Fendace (Fendi x Versace)
The big highlight coming out of MFW this year was not only the Fendi and Versace individual shows but the remarkable collaboration between the two industry titans. The exceptional Fendace show helped the brands generate a total of $33M and $27M in MIV® respectively over the course of Milan Fashion Week. Specific mentions of the Fendace show generated $10.1M MIV® – a top result, only to be surpassed by Prada.
Owned Media proved to be a major driver, accounting for 33% of Versace's total MIV®, and 15% for Fendi. In each case, they benefited from the Owned Media of the other brand as well. In fact, 59% of Versace's coverage explicitly mentioned Fendi. Similarly, 46% of Fendi's coverage mentioned Versace, proving that this partnership really helped both brands to lift each other up.
Paris Fashion Week
Paris Fashion Week (PFW) saw an impressive total of $297M in Media Impact Value™ generated — an overall increase in MIV® by 125% compared to the previous FW21 season, and up by 128% when compared to last year's SS21 — demonstrating that even with the return of physical shows, digital content is here to stay and makes for strong results across the board.
At PFW Dior succeeded once again, with its balanced Voice split and intentional strategy, securing the brand in its top position following previous SS21 & FW21 seasons. Various brands leveraged Voices of KOLs and celebrities from the APAC market, resulting in boosted MIV® to the tune of $10.9M in the case of Dior’s work with Jisoo. This strategy also worked to produce $367K MIV® for Saint Laurent, thanks to Vogue’s video of Blackpink's Rosé getting ready for the show.
Brand Spotlight: Balenciaga
Balenciaga positioned 4th in overall brand rankings, as well as 4th in terms of Owned Media, an increase from previous seasons. Its popular collaboration with The Simpsons helped generate an additional MIV® for the brand worth more than $5M. The top post came from Balenciaga’s own YouTube channel, where they posted a Simpsons mini-episode — valued currently at over $629K MIV® and rising. The strength of video and the long-tail impact of utilizing YouTube for brands has been clear in past seasons and continues on, with Media Impact Value™ increasing for many as a result of strategic, long-term efforts. Overall, Media was the strongest Voice category however for Balenciaga, bringing in a total of $4.5M in MIV® for the brand.
As the industry moves forward following SS22 and brands begin to construct their next strategies, it is important to take a look back and view this season’s outcomes and trends as a learning opportunity and inspiration for future activations. Some of the key takeaways from the season hold the most powerful insights.
Key Takeaways
- Brands are joining forces: the creative mashups of major labels have brought outstanding results, and the partnerships helped lift each other up – brands are really shifting their thinking from competition - to collaboration.
- A look to new markets: recognizing the importance of the APAC market brought additional value to brands. By working with KOLs or replicating events locally, brands garnered increased MIV® from Voices like Influencers or Media.
- The merge of high-street with high-fashion: Brands started to recognize the value of a consumer-focused approach, leading to a shift in the tone of Fashion Week.
- A Voice-centric approach and the leveraging of different Voices: Owned Media became the cornerstone of the phygital future, and Influencers & Celebrity Voices are here to stay, while Media remains a key MIV® contributor, especially for brands who are yet to properly harness the potential of their Owned Media.
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By Launchmetrics Content Team
The Launchmetrics content team is always on the lookout for new trends in the fashion and technology sector. We are geeks with style and lovers of good stories!
