Brand Finance has conducted the latest research on apparel brands. And without any surprises, Nike has achieved the first rank for the seventh year in a row. Though Nike recorded a 13% downfall in its value to $30.4 billion, it did not affect its ranking. It all happened due to Nike’s latest products’ adaptation of new technology.
Second-ranked Gucci with a brand value of $15.6 billion is nowhere near to Nike. It also faced a 12% decline in its brand value compared to last year. Louis Vuitton, Adidas, Chanel, Zara, Uniqlo, H&M, Cartier, and Hermès round out the rest of the top 10.
Apparel Brands Ranking and Ranking Factors
Brand Finance conducted the current study on different apparel segments like a luxury, sportswear, watches, fashions, underwear, footwear etc. The research company selected the top 5000 brands worldwide to carry on the research.
To select the brand value of every apparel brand, Brand Finance designed a metric based on the “the value of the “names, terms, signs, symbols, logos, and designs”. These parameters differentiate a company from its competitor. It helps a brand to create a unique identity among customers.
Brand Finance found that pandemic has affected apparel brands worldwide. Strict lockdowns forced the apparel showrooms to close their operations. Top 50 global apparel brands have faced an 8% decline in their brand value. As per the research finding, the top 50 brands value has decreased from $299.8 billion in 2020 to $276.4 billion in 2021.
But some of the sub-sectors of apparel brands have shown positive growth in a pandemic as well. For example, the footwear sector has recorded a 9% surge in its brand value in 2021. New firms like Timberland and Converse have shown exponential growth in 2021.

Which Brands Showed Positive Growth?
If we talk about the year over year growth of all brands, Fila has topped the list with an exponential growth of 68.4% from 2020 to 2021. Fila is a sportswear brand. Fila Korea unit bought the Global Fila Brand in 2007. It helped the firm to change its strategies and products enhancement as per the requirement of customers.
Puma secures 2nd rank based on the brand value growth. It grew 25.9% in 2021. Dior, Pandora, and Lululemon secured 3rd, 4th, and 5th rank respectively in terms of brand value growth.
Brand Finance also conducted research about the brands that lost maximum value. In this section, Coach saw the maximum decline in its brand value. It decreased by 30.7%. Burberry is the second brand having a decline of 25.7% in its value compared to 2020.
Victoria’s Secret brand value saw a drop of 21.8%, whereas Hugo Boss faced a 21.5% fall in its brand value. Prada, Under Armour, and Cartier are the other three brands that lost a significant part of their brand value.
Brand Finance also conducted research to find the companies having top Brand Strength. In this category, Rolex is the undisputed leader with a Brand Strength index score of 89.6 out of 100. It received an AAA+ rating. Moncler, Gucci, Nike, and Hermes occupied the remaining four spots respectively in the Brand Strength category.