The Lyst Index Q2
- 3 hours ago
- 3 min read
For Many Brands, It's Still Chasing Summer Vacations
The latest Lyst Index (https://www.lyst.com/the-lyst-index/) is out for Q2 and if there is one overriding message from fashion consumers, it's simple:
We're hot. We're going somewhere dreamy and please stop showing us wool coats in July.
Chanel remains No 1. Chanel could probably release a $2,000 beach towel and have a waiting list by Thursday. Its Coco Beach and Métiers d'Art 2026 collections helped keep the machine humming, while searches for Chanel sunglasses jumped an extraordinary 70% quarter-over-quarter.
More interesting is Miu Miu, which jumped two positions back into the top three after searches increased 30%. Crochet bags helped, as did its New Balance collaboration, which received a perfectly timed jolt when Coco Gauff wore the shoes at Wimbledon. And there, ladies and gentlemen, is the modern fashion marketing plan: Make something. Put it on somebody famous. Get photographed. Go viral. Check Lyst tomorrow morning.
Dior completes the top three, while Prada and Burberry also moved higher. (Is Burberry having a moment?)
But some of the biggest stories are happening farther down the list. Phoebe Philo makes her Lyst Index debut after searches for her label increased 29% quarter-over-quarter. The retail footprint remains relatively limited. The growth strategy has been restrained. There isn't a Phoebe Philo logo screaming from every airport terminal. Instead, there's scarcity, credibility and that enormously valuable fashion commodity: people who know, know.
Look at Massimo Dutti, arguably one of the quarter's most interesting developments. The brand climbed a whopping eight positions as searches increased 43%, helped by celebrity visibility at Cannes and demand for its polished, Mediterranean-inspired wardrobe. Smartly, Massimo Dutti isn't playing in Chanel territory. Its rise demonstrates that consumers aren't necessarily searching for the most expensive version of an aesthetic. They're searching for the look.
And this summer, the look apparently involves appearing as though you've just stepped off a Riva in Lake Como even if you're really getting out of an Uber in Fort Lauderdale. Celine also jumped five positions, with searches climbing 31%, as interest builds around Michael Rider's direction for the house. They needed help and it seems Rider is the rescue.
But perhaps the biggest takeaway from the quarter is that consumers have become remarkably practical. Consumers clearly want clothes they can actually wear now. Don’t give us ‘pre-fall” in July. Instead, demand moved toward jelly footwear, barely-there sandals, giant shield sunglasses, breezy dresses and resort-ready pieces. Cruise collections and vacation dressing surged.
Chloé benefited from the romantic summer mood, while Jacquemus returned to the Index, hardly surprising considering the brand has essentially turned looking fabulous somewhere near the Mediterranean into a corporate mission statement.
For decades, fashion trained consumers to shop according to the industry's calendar. Buy fall in August. Spring arrives while there's snow on the ground. Swimwear appears while you're still wearing gloves and consumers increasingly seem to be saying: Enough.
They're searching by mood, weather and occasion rather than obediently following fashion's traditional timetable. Quarter two’s idea is romantic, Mediterranean, sporty, breezy and slightly escapist. People want to look like they're spending August between Cannes, Capri and Mallorca (who wouldn’t) preferably with enormous sunglasses and something crochet nearby.
That's why the Lyst Index has become such an interesting barometer of fashion. It's less about what designers tell us is important and increasingly about what consumers are hunting for.
Apparently, everyone just wants a great pair of sunglasses, a ridiculous little bag and a ticket to somewhere with a beach.
NOTE* Where was Louis Vuitton? More on that later...
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