Once upon a time, fashion inspiration was gleaned from two main sources. First, there were glossy magazines, in which high-end designer clothes were presented in highly stylised, fantasy-inducing settings: gorgeous, for sure, but often not immediately transferable into the ‘real world’.
On the flipside was the real world itself. From the girl on the bus whose hairstyle we made a mental note to try and replicate to the colleague whose bright outfits motivated us to try colour-blocking, the women around us have long provided styling ideas for us to ‘borrow’.
But now, of course, there’s a third way to find inspiration for our next look. Social media sits somewhere in between fantasy and real life, providing fertile ground for the spread of fashion trends – and a strong online following is now a vital form of advertising for brands.
Marketing platform Insightpool conducted a survey to find out just which labels have mastered the social media game, looking at various criteria including audience engagement, tags by fashion influencers, and the percentage of conversations about fashion and related keywords on Instagram and Twitter.
Despite the Insta-fame of specific high street items, it was designer brands that proved most popular – but several more affordable brands also made the cut.
Scroll through to see the full list.
Main image: Rex Features
Nike
Coming in at 10th place is Nike, whose trainers have been repurposed as super-chic accessories with the rise of athleisurewear.
Image: instagram.com/hypebae
H&M
The Scandinavian high street giant has a huge following on Instagram for its eye-catching outfit edits.
Image: instagram.com/hm
Victoria's Secret
The US lingerie brand’s social media popularity is partly due to the buzz surrounding its annual fashion show. But VS’s online presence is also cannily targeted at digital natives (younger millennials and Gen Z), with feeds full of photos of young women in glitter eyeshadow and Coachella-inspired clothes.
Adidas
Like Nike, Adidas has seen its trainers (particularly the Adidas Superstars, pictured) adopted by the fashion pack – helping bring it into 7th place.
Image: instagram.com/manowsornsin
Marc Jacobs
As well as the main Marc Jacobs line, the designer’s huge range of beauty products and accessories – from foundation to perfume, watches to iPhone covers – keeps people snapping away.
Image: instagram.com/kanakana.39
Forever 21
US brand Forever 21, as its name suggests, also goes straight for the youth vote with its social media presence. And with a spot in 5th place, it’s obviously working.
Image: instagram.com/forever21
Puma
Puma is the most popular sportswear brand on the social media rankings, helped by the brand’s high-profile collaborations with Rihanna (123m combined followers on Instagram and Twitter) and Kylie Jenner (112m followers).
Image: instagram.com/badgalriri
Christian Siriano
In third place is American designer Christian Siriano, who has a relatively small combined following of 645,000. The Project Runway winner’s high place in the rankings could be explained by the fact that Michelle Obama wore two of his dresses to high-profile events last summer – one being the Democratic National Convention.
Siriano also provided Orange is the New Black star Samira Wiley and writer Lauren Morelli with their wedding outfits in March.
Louis Vuitton
The 163-year-old luxury French fashion house is seriously popular in the digital age, with 6.1m followers on Twitter and 16.7m on Instagram – proving that that iconic LV print is yet to get old.
Image: instagram.com/risa_doll_
Chanel
No real surprises here: with a combined Instagram and Twitter following of 20.7 million, Chanel is a seriously big hitter on social media. The classic Chanel handbag is particularly popular on Instagram, with almost 3m photos tagged with #chanelbag.
Image: instagram.com/yasmine.zeroc
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