The coronavirus not only caused many influencers to skip Paris Fashion Week this season, it also dented social media interactions around the event.
The outbreak was probably a factor in the 65 percent dip in Twitter conversation about Paris Fashion Week compared to last year, according to ListenFirst, a data and analytics company, which tracked social media during PFW from Feb. 25 through March 3.
There were 128,159 tweets mentioning Paris Fashion Week this season, versus 356,059 between Feb. 25 and March 5, 2019. Of these, 389 tweets mentioned both Paris Fashion Week and the coronavirus. The outbreak prompted the cancellation of several shows, presentations and events such as the cocktail for the LVMH Prize.
Launchmetrics, the data research and insights company for fashion, luxury and beauty, found there was a spike in media impact value (MIV) regarding the news around COVID-19, with 6.9 percent of the week’s MIV mentioning the keyword “coronavirus.”
According to the ListenFirst ranking, Louis Vuitton was the best performing brand on social media, up from number four during the same period a year ago, thanks to a campaign showing its handbags anachronistically paired with famous old paintings.
The images ran as a teaser for Nicolas Ghesquière’s fall runway show, which featured 200 extras dressed as historical characters. “This simple but playful way to showcase accessories helped the bag collection go viral on Instagram,” said Tracy David, chief marketing officer at ListenFirst.
Vuitton had a social engagement score of 3,865,395. That figure is based on the volume of post responses and fan growth across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and hashtag/handle mentions on Twitter. Its score rose 34 percent over last year’s PFW.
Coming in second place was Dior, with a social engagement score of 2,920,501. The score was down 32 percent from last year, ListenFirst said.
Rounding out the top 10, in order, were Off-White (minus 19 percent); Chanel (minus 46 percent); Yves Saint Laurent (plus 86 percent); Alexander McQueen (minus 19 percent); Balmain (plus 54 percent); Elie Saab (minus 49 percent); Chloé (minus 4 percent) and Balenciaga (minus 44 percent).
Dior’s top performing post was a gallery showing looks designed by Maria Grazia Chiuri on Karlie Kloss, Alexa Chung and Romee Strijd. Off-White scored best with an image of its yellow 2.0 industrial belt with metallic gold buckle, available for sale online.
Launchmetrics ranked Louis Vuitton at number one in terms of owned media, followed by Chanel, Dior, Off-White and Chloé, respectively. By MIV, Dior grabbed the top spot, followed by Chanel, Saint Laurent, Louis Vuitton and Off-White.
Paris Fashion Week had a total MIV of $166.7 million, with social media contributing $105.4 million and online media generating $61.3 million. There was a spike in MIV around Kanye West’s Sunday Service gathering and Yeezy Season 8 show, with 5.3 percent of the total mentioning the keywords “yeezy” or “yeezys” or “yeezy’s.”
The top influencer account was Brazilian blogger Camila Coelho, with a MIV of $2 million. The top celebrity was Ashley Benson, the girlfriend of model Cara Delevingne, with a MIV of $1.8 million. The actress and model attended the Balmain, Stella McCartney and Giambattista Valli shows.
The top Instagram post was from YouTuber Liza Koshy and showed her getting ready for the Dior show, generating more than 1 million likes. The top sponsored post was from blogger Christie Tyler, founder of NYC Bambi, in partnership with Netaporter.com.