This was no ordinary year, and with the presentation of spring collections spread out from the beginning of September to just last week, we skipped our usual round-up of top performers. Instead, we’ve combined the two seasons together to create a 2020 master list.
Last March, when we looked at the stats, I wrote that the top 10 doesn’t shift much season to season. That’s true today: The big names remain the big names, even in this year of change. But the list does tell a story.
Moschino’s Jeremy Scott cracked the top 10 on the success of his audience-pleasing runway puppet show, presumably. “The best thing I could do for everyone who is stressed about the election, the pandemic, social unrest, and the future was to give the gift of fantasy and take us away from all of it for a few minutes,” Scott told my colleague Anders Christian Madsen at the time. The Théâtre de la Mode concept that Scott riffed on, lifted from World War II–era couturiers who sent miniature versions of their work on the road to save their businesses, was a leitmotif of the season-but nobody pulled it off with Scott’s panache.
Prada made the biggest jump of the year, moving up from seventh place to second. The arrival of Miuccia Prada’s new co-creative director Raf Simons probably had something to do with that. Separately they’re two of the most-watched designers in fashion; insiders were more than a little bit curious to see what the unprecedented partnership would look like. “It’s a beginning,” Prada declared in the sit-down interview that followed the livestreamed show. Less than four weeks from now, they’ll reveal their first collaborative men’s collection.
Looking ahead to 2021, we’re hoping Marc Jacobs finds his way back onto the New York Fashion Week calendar after opting out of the spring shows in September. New York fashion needs him and we miss seeing his name here.
Find out how the rest of Vogue Runway’s most-viewed brands of 2020 measured up below.
1. Chanel
Rank last season: 1
2. Prada
Rank last season: 7
3. Louis Vuitton
Rank last season: 5
4. Christian Dior
Rank last season: 6
5. Balenciaga
Rank last season: 3
6. Saint Laurent
Rank last season: 2
7. Valentino
Rank last season: New Entry
8. Gucci
Rank last season: 4
9. Celine
Rank last season: New Entry
10. Moschino
Rank last season: New Entry