The American multinational company that designs and manufactures sports equipment has put on its shoes and has been crowned the most valuable clothing brand in the world, above Gucci and Louis Vuitton. And for the seventh consecutive year.
Never mind that it has been forced to close most of its stores in the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia, due to the pandemic. Nor that the value of the firm has registered a fall of 13%. Nike, the American multinational company that designs and manufactures sports equipment, has put on its shoes and has been crowned the most valuable clothing brand in the world. And for the seventh consecutive year.
The ranking by brand value is led by Nike, reaching 30.4 million dollars (25.918 million euros), according to the Apparel 50 20021 report prepared by the Brand Finance consultancy. While the brand strength is led by Rolex with a score of 86.6 out of 100.
Nike still maintains a considerable advantage over Gucci, which ranks second with a brand value of 15.6 billion dollars, that is, 12% less than in 2020. And this is justified by the turnaround that the brand gave it sports to its online sales model during twelve months of confinement, which almost doubled in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. And that it surpassed the $1 billion milestone in quarterly sales, a feat that not only demonstrates the brand's absolute dominance in the industry, but also places the brand in a strong position to meet the challenge of today's world turmoil.
The clothing ranking is divided into subsectors: luxury, sportswear, fast fashion, watches, accessories and jewelry; High street designer, underwear and footwear. And of these subsectors, footwear is the only one that has registered an increase in brand value with 9%.
Adidas, Nike's staunch rival, has had a less successful year in its industry, posting a 1% decline in brand value to reach $16.5 million.
Timberland certainly appears for the first time in the ranking thanks to its particularly good performance and achieving a brand value increase of 47%. While Converse, which is owned by Nike, rose 8% following increased demand in Europe as well as higher global digital sales.
In contrast, underwear brands suffered significantly in 2020 with the top two brands losing an average of 19% of their value. The first is Victoria's Secret, whose brand value fell 22% to $4.2 billion, and became the third fastest-falling brand in the ranking, according to experts due to a lack of diversity in its marketing strategy and also in the model line. A problem that has worsened as consumers of the so-called generation Z have begun to redefine the social norms around body image.
Fila is the fastest growing brand on the 2021 Brand Finance Apparel 50 list, following an impressive 68% increase in brand value to $2.7 billion.
The brand, which operates in 70 countries through licensing agreements, celebrated growth especially at the end of 2020 in the Chinese market. Since Fila Korea bought the global Fila brand in 2007, the brand has worked to strategically embrace the return of the trends that helped it make a name for itself across the industry, including 1990s fashions that returned multiple times.
Fila is followed by Timberland and China's Bosideng third with 39% growth.
Bosideng, which has entered the ranking at position 50, with a brand value of US$1.5 billion, announced a new clothing line launched in collaboration with Jean Paul Gaultier, the former creative director of French luxury fashion house Hermès (down 2% at US$11.7bn), which is sold in stores and online on Chinese e-commerce giant Tmall's platform.
