Fashion’s Hottest Brands and Products Q4 2023

Style with Substance

Though demand for luxury may be softening, Lyst data shows fashion customers are not willing to compromise on brand. Now more than ever, it takes more than just great marketing to claim the top spots; to make The Lyst Index, a brand must deliver on attention and emotion. No surprise, then, that this quarter’s number one brand is far more than just hot. Complex, innovative, intelligent; Prada moves into the number one spot for the third time, with searches up 41% year-on-year. The activity bullets this quarter offer a small view into the worldview of a true culture player. Prada’s mood sets the vibe, and its thoughtful, cohesive collections are driving demand worldwide. ‘Little sister’ Miu Miu takes second place, its confident, creative aesthetic continuing to shape the trend cycle. Miu Miu’s kitten heels played into the season’s trend for cherry red and also had a halo effect on the shoe category; demand for kitten heels spiked 49% on Lyst in November.

A year on from the controversy surrounding two campaigns, Balenciaga jumps a further two places up the Index into 12th position. In December, Balenciaga hosted its pre-Fall 24 show on a closed-down street in LA in front of guests including Kim Kardashian, Lil Wayne and Nicole Kidman. The event also served as a soft launch for a powerful collaboration with LA-based grocery store Erewhon: the capsule collection, which included a hoodie, t-shirt and tote bag with prices ranging from $425 to $1,150, quickly sold out and drove over 10.1 billion views on TikTok. Demand for Balenciaga products increased 7% on Lyst this quarter, which begs the question: can a fashion brand ever truly be “canceled”?

In 18th place, The Row makes its debut in The Lyst Index hottest brands ranking, with demand increasing 93% this quarter. Since launching their brand in 2006, co-founders Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have become style arbiters for a generation of new luxury fashion shoppers, winning 6 CFDA awards along the way and occupying the sartorial hole left by Phoebe Philo’s departure from Céline. (Despite the recent, much-hyped launch of Philo’s eponymous brand, its highly limited e-commerce distribution excludes it from The Lyst Index). A new status symbol and heirloom in the making, The Row’s Margaux bag is Q4’s hottest product. Worn by the likes of Kendall Jenner, Zoë Kravitz and Jennifer Lawrence — and retailing between $3,490 and $6,850 — searches for the hard-to-find tote bag spiked 63% this quarter alone and are up 198% year-on-year.

Victoria Beckham enters The Lyst Index as a Breakout Brand to watch. Following the launch of the Beckham documentary on Netflix, searches spiked 68% on Lyst in October, driven by demand for the viral ‘My Dad Had a Rolls-Royce’ t-shirt and the Frame Buckle belt, this quarter’s second hottest product. Belts are re-emerging as a hot category, an accessible fix for customers looking to buy into luxury brands on a budget. Once dominated by Gucci — whose double G logo belt has appeared 8 times in The Lyst Index — the designer belt category has been befitting from a 28% rise in demand over the past quarter.