Zara and H&M plunge down list of most valuable retail brands

By

Marion Deslandes

Translated by
Barbara Santamaria

Published
May 16, 2019

BrandZ’s second annual top 75 most valuable global retail brands ranking, conducted by Kantar, has found that whilst Amazon continues to be on the top spot ($315.5 billion), ahead of Alibaba and McDonald’s, there are several changes afoot in the retail market, particularly in the clothing sector. Notably, fashion giants Zara and H&M dropped amid rising concerns over their environmental impact.

Spanish retailer Zara has moved down to 12th from 10th last year, and its value has dropped 10% to $22.6 billion (20.15 billion euros). Meanwhile H&M saw its value fall 39% to $6.4 billion, and fell from 22nd to 37th in the ranking. These fast-fashion brands “were impacted by rising concern about the cost of producing, transporting and selling disposable products,” Kantar explained.

“Apparel is a category under pressure, too, as competition hots up in online fast fashion and customer expectations evolve. Category darling Zara - widely acknowledged to have been the inventor of fast fashion in the days long before online shopping - has had a tough year, while the athletics-oriented apparel brands have benefitted from the rising popularity of sports-casual fashion and growing interest in health and fitness.”

Nike ($47.4 billion) continues to be the most valuable clothing brand, ranking 7th in the overall list. But the sports and athleisure brand with the highest growth across all sectors is Lululemon: the Canadian brand has seen its value increase 94% to $6.9 billion and came in 35th in the retail ranking. Adidas also grew 13% and placed 20th.

Levi’s entered the ranking for the first time ahead of its IPO this year. The denim brand entered at no. 74, whilst The North Face, another new entrant, placed 74th helped by its “markedly differentiated” outdoor products.

The luxury sector continued to have a presence in the ranking thanks to three French fashion houses: Louis Vuitton (6th), Chanel (8th) and Hermes (10th). Louis Vuitton was also featured in the ranking for the first time, taking the 58th spot with a brand value of $3.57 billion.