Collaborations are far from new, but designer brands and streetwear companies joining forces is on the rise, especially within the worlds of apparel and accessories. Today, StockX released a report highlighting the ascent.
“Brand collaborations are among the most important features of the sneaker and streetwear space, yet there has been surprisingly little research into the interconnections between brands and how this culture network has shifted over time,” said Jesse Einhorn, StockX senior economist. “If you look at the top 10,000 apparel and accessories on StockX this year, nearly a quarter of those products are the result of a collaboration between two different brands.”
In its new “Big Facts: Collaboration Nation, Designer Edition” report, StockX revealed insights into the “growing number of OG fashion houses” that are “tapping today’s most culturally relevant brands to appeal to the modern consumer in a new way.”
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To start the report, the “stock market of things” stated Dior and Comme des Garçons are the most collaborative designer brands, and there are 2.5 average distinct collaborations per designer brand.
“With the right partners and collaboration strategy, a decades-old fashion house can rebrand itself to appeal to the youngest generation of shoppers, and that’s exactly what they’re doing,” Einhorn said. “As Gen Z accumulates more spending power, more legacy designer brands will look to collaborate with streetwear and sneaker brands, so we can absolutely expect to see this network grow in the coming years.”
What’s more, StockX said there has been a 200% increase in distinct designer collabs in 2021 over 2019. In 2021, it said there has been a 60% average price premium in designer collaboration products.
In terms of what people are searching for, StockX revealed the search “Bape x Coach” increased 1,680% in July 2021 over the same month last year. Next on the list is “Marc Jacobs,” which experienced a 400% search increase and then “Gucci Shirt” climbed 210%.
“This data further underscores the shift in consumer shopping behavior,” Einhorn said. “Younger generations are drawn to limited release items and collaborations rather than fast fashion.”
As for trades, StockX said handbag trades are up more than 200% year-over-year for the period ending Q2 2021.
StockX also offered insights into apparel selections that are great investments. Most notably, the company said typical investors in T-shirts from the Kaws x Uniqlo collaboration have seen an 82% return on their portfolio over the past two years.
