I Wrote Some Code 2 Analyze The Fashion Brands That Defined The Year And Here Is What I Found
Sharing some insights on what fashion brands (objectively) had a great year.
We saw a lot of change across the luxury fashion industry in 2025. Most notably, there was a pretty big reset of creative directors across fashion’s biggest brands. Many of these brands also, unfortunately, fell into luxury’s slump, which just recently started to show signs of improving. Fashion today is a more saturated and competitive landscape than ever, with brands battling to win over the hearts—and, of course, wallets—of consumers to stay afloat.
And while there are many opinions surrounding what brands or fashion moments defined the year, I’m going to do what I always do and turn to the data for some answers.
So, I pulled thousands of online articles and press referencing different luxury brands, segmented every month from January to December. Then, I ran a sentiment analysis, which is a data science methodology that allows me to quantify the positivity of each post’s language. Because, of course, solely looking at the quantity of posts written about each brand isn’t always sufficient, it’s also important to look at their quality. Or, their sentiment. Here’s what I found.
PRADA: THE MOST CONSISTENT
First, I wanted to take a look at which luxury brand had the most consistent perception among consumers, or whose average sentiment fluctuated the least month-to-month. And the answer was Prada.
When you look at average sentiment figures for each brand over the past year, you usually see natural spikes and drops following cultural moments. Like how GAP saw a 61% spike in average sentiment in May, after dressing Laura Harrier in a custom GAPStudio look at the Met Gala. Or how Bottega Veneta’s sentiment grew 123% following their 50th anniversary intrecciato campaign.
However, for Prada, things looked a bit different this year. Prada had the lowest variance in its average sentiment month-to-month—around 72% lower versus its competitors.
What does this mean? Well, first, that Prada has a pretty consistent brand image. Prada doesn’t see huge fluctuations in its brand perception following campaigns or runway collections. And while some brands might want to see increased consumer sentiment following such investments, this also means that Prada doesn’t rely on them. That’s a pretty strong place to be in.
Plus, whatever Prada does choose to do or put out there is so consistent with its current image, that it’s not swaying consumers too far in any direction. And, it’s most certainly not losing them. The brand knows what it’s good at, and gives people exactly that.
Second, and perhaps as a result of this consistency, Prada has been one of the few brands to not fall victim to luxury’s slump. Prada Group—which also just acquired Versace—most recently posted 9% revenue growth year-over-year for the first 9 months of 2025. Things for Prada went well this year, and both the financials and consumers seem to agree.
SAINT LAURENT: THE BIGGEST GROWTH
Next, I took a look at which brand saw the biggest growth in sentiment from January to December. And the winner here was Saint Laurent—average sentiment for Saint Laurent grew around 258% over the past year. Wow.
What makes this insight particularly interesting is that Saint Laurent has already been established and well known and beloved by consumers for decades. And it’s not that average sentiment for Saint Laurent in January was particularly low—in fact, the brand had just shown its Fall 2025 menswear collection, which would go on to make thigh-high leather boots one of the most prominent menswear trends of the year. It’s just that average sentiment for Saint Laurent in December was, comparatively, a lot higher.
For an already-well-known-and-beloved brand to see such growth—to start from a high bar and raise it even higher—means Saint Laurent is doing something really, really right.
And, especially given Anthony Vaccarello’s Saint Laurent is incredibly consistent in the fashion it delivers, it’s a good reminder that luxury brands don’t necessarily have to reinvent themselves to reach more consumers. In an industry that rewards fast-paced micro-trends, and often sees quick changes in creative direction across luxury brands, Vaccarello has mastered the formula on how to build a strong and beloved brand that can stand the test of time. And the data proves it.
CHANEL: THE RUNWAY FAVORITE
Third, I was interested in which of the latest high fashion runway collections was most positively received. So, I looked at average sentiment across brands during the month of their last runway collection. Chanel’s was by far the highest—around 30% higher than competitors on average.
It’s not particularly groundbreaking news that Chanel’s latest runway collections have been favorites across the fashion industry. In fact, since Matthieu Blazy’s debut for the brand in early October, it seems like the “new Chanel” is just about what everyone in fashion is talking about. Blazy showed his second collection for the brand earlier this month, staged on a decommissioned New York City subway platform, and picked up even more rave reviews.
However, this insight does become interesting when you compare it to how Chanel’s brand awareness data has looked historically. In the past, Chanel hasn’t seen many large spikes in awareness following its runway shows. And, actually, this is quite common for bigger, luxury, household name brands—when a brand is already well known among mass consumers, runways aren’t usually what drive the greatest exposure. Or, what generate the majority of sales.
Today, though, Matthieu’s designs have transformed Chanel into a brand that has the industry at the edge of its seat, and whose runways are at the forefront of setting trends across the fashion industry. And that’s great news for Chanel.
LOEWE: THE OVERALL FAVORITE
Finally, I took a look at which brand, across all twelve months, saw the highest total average sentiment. So, who managed to keep its consumers and followers the happiest. And the winner here was Loewe.
By this metric, in 2025, Loewe was around 48% more popular than its competitors on average. Funnily enough, as part of my Paris Fashion Week review, I published that Loewe’s runway collection—its first under new creative directors Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez—was the debut which resulted in the highest average sentiment, too. So, the people that like and follow Loewe really like and follow Loewe.
It’s easy to forget that Loewe is still comparatively a small luxury brand, with a more dedicated, cult-like following. And as a smaller brand, Loewe is a good reminder that a lot of what might drive shifts in overall style and aesthetics are the brands that, despite their size, have a passionate consumer base. Bigger brands might have more eyes on them or greater name recognition, but if they aren’t resonating with their consumers in the way Loewe is, their cultural impact won’t be as great.
IN CONCLUSION…
After such an exciting yet simultaneously uncertain year for the fashion industry, it’s interesting to see what brands objectively resonated with consumers, and ideate as to why. And, as these analyses indicate how industry and consumer sentiment are moving in real-time, it’ll be interesting to see what’s to come and what brands will continue to make their mark in 2026. Only time—and data!!!—will tell.
The analyses shared in this article revolve around high-fashion and luxury brands. However, I’ve previously written about some smaller, independent brands that made an incredible mark this year, and promoted more fun and bold styles while the industry at large favored simplicity. You can read about them below:
