It’s been a year-and-a-half since we published this ranking. In the Before Times, we posted the numbers every season, but during the pandemic the runway system was too disrupted, with some brands showing after the official season (Gucci) and others moving to a pre-season cycle (Marc Jacobs), to do it. Now, in the spirit of establishing a new normal, we’re bringing it back.
The picture this spring 2022 ranking paints is of a shifting industry. Some key players—Celine and Bottega Veneta, in addition to the aforementioned names—are still weeks or months away from presenting their new collections, in-person or via video. Had they re-entered the fray, they’re likely to have made the list. Their absence, then, has left room for new names.
The highest new ranking is Givenchy in position 6. After a couple of quiet, COVID-time seasons, it was Matthew Williams’s runway debut, and there’s a lot of curiosity about this friend of Lady Gaga, school of Virgil Abloh designer, especially after he dressed Kendall Jenner so sensationally in a spangled naked dress at the Met Gala last month. More interesting to us, though, is the appearance of Maryam Nassir Zadeh, a newcomer to this list, if not to the New York fashion scene. Nassir Zadeh opened her store in the Lower East Side back in 2008, and in the years since what my colleague Emily Farra describes as her “modern vision of femininity rooted in individuality and curiosity” has come to define downtown cool. Let’s call her a cult favorite whose time has arrived. Tom Ford and Michael Kors also made the list; New York is back, baby! See how the rest of the top 10 most viewed shows of spring 2022 measured up here.
1. Chanel
Rank in Fall 2020: 1
