Balenciaga footwear leads to content, conversations

French fashion label Balenciaga’s shoe designs helped boost its earned media value in February, according to data from Tribe Dynamics.

Balenciaga saw a 93 percent year-over-year uptick in content production and mentions as streetwear fans and publications posted about its Triple S trainers or partnership with Crocs. Most of the top 10 luxury brands saw their EMV fall during the height of fashion month, with only Balenciaga and Tom Ford seeing growth.

Tribe Dynamics’ EMV rankings quantify the value of publicity gained, including placements and engagement, assigning a monetary amount to content produced.

Buzzy brands

Gucci topped Tribe Dynamics’ February rankings of luxury brands with $61.7 million in EMV. This was down slightly from 2017.

Following Gucci was Chanel with $34 million in EMV, with Saint Laurent, Dior and Marc Jacobs rounding out the top five.

While Gucci was the leader in EMV across most channels, including Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and blogs, Dior dominated YouTube.

Balenciaga and Tom Ford, which placed eighth and ninth in the list, were the only brands to grow their earned media from 2017.

Tom Ford’s ‘80s-inspired New York Fashion Week show included a number of celebrity personalities, such as Halsey and LaLa Anthony, who helped drive conversation and engagement with their posts. The brand saw $20 million in EMV from the #NYFW hashtag.

T O M F O R D ?@tomford #NYFW

A post shared by LaLa (@lala) on Feb 8, 2018 at 5:03pm PST

For Balenciaga, Highsnobiety and HypeBae were two of its top influencers. During New York Fashion Week, the brand’s footwear and designs were seen on models and bloggers, helping to further inspire mentions.

Ralph Lauren, Burberry, Gucci and Balmain were the brands that gained the most media value during their respective fashion weeks, according to data from Launchmetrics.

Fashion weeks have gone from being VIP-only events to public affairs thanks to live streaming and social media, resulting in significant mentions and engagement between brands and consumers. From influencer partnerships to stunts, brands that rose above the noise found ways to stand out amid a crowded calendar (see story).