Given the loosening of Covid restrictions globally, this fashion season saw a number of notable moments with the steady return to physical events. Launchmetrics calculated theMedia Impact Value (Miv) of the fashion and haute couture weeks, analyzing the value of the media impact of influencer marketing actions on a brand image. The company studied online articles and interactions on various social platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, TikTok, Weibo, WeChat, Douyin, Bilibil, and Little red book.

Men's Fashion Weeks FW22 held from January 14 to February 23, 2022, excluding those of New York and London, canceled due of the covid. With the unexpected surge of the Omicron variant and the sudden cancellation of physical events from brands like Giorgio Armani, Gucci and JW Anderson for Milan Fashion Week. The week saw a -13.5% decrease in MIV® compared to FW21, with the majority of interactions coming from Italy, the USA and South Korea, with great performances by Fendi, Prada and Dolce & Gabbana, which relied almost exclusively on press coverage, with over 92% of their MIV® being generated by Media.

However, Paris Fashion Week this year outperformed 2021, with an increase in MIV® of 27.9%. Brands overall focused on evolving their Voice mix to leverage their Celebrity and Influencer Voices as a key driver in generating media attention. In fact, K-pop group, The Boyz, garnered $1.8M in Media Impact ValueTM through Instagram alone. In Milan, Celebrities and Influencers contributed to 32% of the Fashion Week’s total Media Impact ValueTM and this was omnipresent from Prada to Dolce & Gabbana.

Similarly for Paris, notable Celebrities, like Tyler the Creator, Kanye and J.Balvin attended Fashion Week and created media buzz surrounding various events. Part of this season’s success was attributed to brands creating one-of-a-kind experiences and circumstantial moments; events that stood out were, Louis Vuitton’s “Louis Dreamhouse”, Nigo’s debut Kenzo show and Y/Project’s collection collaboration with Jean Paul Gaultier. Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Kenzo were the best brands of this session of events.

Paris Fashion Week - Haute Couture generated over $48M in Media Impact ValueTM across 10K placements, Social media made up 61% of the total MIV®, with Instagram generating $25M in MIV®. Unsurprisingly, France and the US were the top 2 performing countries with 28% and 23% of the MIV® share respectively. Top performing brands this year were Chanel, Dior, Valentino and Schiaparelli gaining $17.6M, $11.6M, $7.5M and $7.5M in MIV® respectively.

Concerning women's fashion weeks, which also included London and New York, this FW22 season saw a number of notable moments, from celebrity appearances, growing brands, iconic collections and more.
Acknowledging the fashion weeks in February took place against the backdrop of the events unfolding in Ukraine, the fashion community’s responsiveness was quick and apparent. Between Milan and Paris Fashion week a total of 18% of placements mentioned the ongoing conflict. In solidarity, to name a few moments, was Armani’s silent show, Demna Gvasalia’s Balenciaga show tribute to Ukranians and Gigi Hadid’s pledge to donate all fashion month earnings to Ukraine and Palestine.

This season’s LFW saw a number of emerging and new designers like Yuhan Wang, Rejina Pyo and more. The week long event has become a recognized platform for many emerging brands. Especially given presentations from London College of Fashion and Central Saint Martins.

With the loosening of Covid restrictions, this season’s MFW and PFW drove the return to the new normal. Plenty of press coverage opportunities were to be had given the numerous physical events around the cities. This season, 26% of MIV® was generated by Celebrity and Influencer Voices. Mainly with front row appearances from numerous stars like, Angus Cloud, Jacob Elordi, Kim K, Julia Fox, driving media buzz.

NYFW FW22 generated $117M in MIV® across Online and Social Media channels, while LFW generated over $40.4M in MIV® while featuring many growing fashion brands. The week has proved to be a great platform for emerging designers for brands like Molly Goddard, Supriya Lee and Roksanda ranking in the top 10 brands each garnering over $1.5M MIV®.

MFW created enormous buzz this year, generating $171M in MIV® across more than 33K placements. PFW FW22 generated $260M in MIV®, significantly more than last year’s FW21 MIV® of $132M. Interestingly, Video played an important role this year with YouTube and TikTok* generating $17M and $7M in MIV® respectively. Influencers (17%) and Celebrities (9%) contributed heavily towards PFW’s total MIV® with the presence of K-pop stars generating immense MIV® and social media coverage.

Image: A look from Balenciaga fashion show FW22. The brand’s creative director Demna used his platform to pay tribute to Ukrainians in a dramatic show that evoked a deep sense of unease about the future. “The war in Ukraine has triggered the pain of a past trauma I have carried in me since 1993, when the same thing happened to my home country and I became a forever refugee,” Demna wrote, in a note given to guests attending the label’s Fall-Winter 2022 show.