Every year, the fashion industry releases another report as if preparing some heart-breaking graphs. What comes next is a near-annual little breakdown of who’s thriving and who’s hanging on the line. I don’t mean any harm. Think of it like high school. No one admits that they overslept, and it’s like a popularity ranking of who’s good-looking and who’s not. of Business of fashion brand pulse index in 2025 It’s basically that moment, bullying is down, numbers are up, and it’s backed by data that we really trust. It ranks the world’s biggest luxury brands not by heritage or prestige, but by something much more terrifying. How much do people actually care? I get it, it’s scary. Let’s just say there are enough surprises to make a fashion week seating chart look peaceful.
Well, fashion geeks, here’s the summary. The BoF Brand Pulse Index is like a luxury brand’s Apple Watch, but instead of tracking steps, it tracks how alive a brand is in our minds. We judge brands on five dimensions: value (is it worth sacrificing the rent?), connection (have you ever shed a tear in a DM?), discoverability (are you still bothered by your feed?), identity (can you identify it faster than a knock-off?), and love (do you have love and loyalty, or just brand paranoia?).
In the value x connection graph, Louis Vuitton, Saint Laurent, Hermès, and Chanel are located far to the upper right of the wallet, and I feel that there is sufficient stock. Meanwhile, Dolce & Gabbana have high connections but low value, Brioni and Valentino have value but fail to interest us, and Balenciaga and Moncler are fighting for attention, bless them. Next we have the Pulse table. Here, Balenciaga and Bottega Veneta are basically the rulebook of identity. Unsurprisingly, you could find triple S and woven jodis from London to Milan. Chanel gets all the “love” points because some brands can make you fall in love with a $50 lipstick the same way some people fall in love with a $200,000 gown, but Louis Vuitton, on the other hand, casually tops the list for value, connection, discoverability, and love, and what a win. This is a map for those who value luxury today.
In the end, literally no one asked for this report, but everyone clicked the moment it dropped, just exposing who was climbing and who was just recycling the archives for the 700th time. It turns industry turmoil into neat little graphs. To be honest, it’s messy, but it’s very useful. Think of it as fashion’s way of telling the truth when your favorite brands don’t.
Source: Our Culture – ourculturemag.com
