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Press release · WCRC Intelligence Unit · Luxury, Fashion & Sportswear · Most Powerful Brands 2026

Hermès leads WCRC's 2026 luxury and fashion table, and France holds four of the top six

A WCRC analysis of 29 luxury, fashion and sportswear brands across its World, America, UK and Europe Most Powerful 100 rankings finds restraint beating reach, and a hard year for Kering.

By WCRC Intelligence Unit · Published 13 November 2026 · For immediate release
Luxury, Fashion & Sportswear: WCRC Most Powerful Brands 2026 industry analysis cover

13 November 2026. Hermès is the most powerful luxury and fashion brand in WCRC's 2026 rankings, with a WCRC Power Score of 83.38. It ranks #2 in Europe's Most Powerful 100 Brands 2026 and #4 in the World's Most Powerful 100 Brands 2026.

The analysis, published today by the WCRC Intelligence Unit, covers 29 luxury, fashion, watch, jewellery and sportswear brands ranked in the World's Most Powerful 100 Brands 2026, America's Most Powerful 100 Brands 2026, the UK's Most Powerful 100 Brands 2026 and Europe's Most Powerful 100 Brands 2026.

adidas (80.89), Louis Vuitton (80.25), Chanel (78.88), Cartier (77.57) and Dior (77.19) follow. Four of the top six are French. Tiffany & Co. (77.16, #37 in the world) and Nike (76.58, #16 in America) are the strongest American names.

Europe dominates the group with 19 brands. LVMH owns four of them: Louis Vuitton, Dior, Bulgari and TAG Heuer. It also owns Sephora, Moët & Chandon and Hennessy, which are ranked in other industries.

Kering had a hard year. Gucci's revenue fell 22% and Saint Laurent's 8%, as per company filings. Ralph Lauren grew fastest, up 14.6%, followed by Coach's owner Tapestry, up 14.2%.

“Luxury brands gain power by saying no. Hermès makes each Birkin by hand and lets the waiting list do the marketing. The houses that lost momentum this year were the ones that chased volume. Scarcity, craft and consistency are still the formula.”

WCRC Intelligence Unit

The leaders in each ranking

  • World's Most Powerful 100Hermès #4 · 83.38
  • US Most Powerful 100Nike #16 · 76.58
  • UK Most Powerful 100Burberry #14 · 69.04
  • Europe Most Powerful 100Hermès #2 · 83.38

Read the full report: all 29 brands

Notes to editors

  • The analysis covers World's Most Powerful 100 Brands 2026 (11 brands); America's Most Powerful 100 Brands 2026 (4 brands); UK's Most Powerful 100 Brands 2026 (5 brands); Europe's Most Powerful 100 Brands 2026 (19 brands).
  • Revenue figures are as per company filings for the latest available financial year.
  • Only brands whose owners publish financial results were considered for these rankings.
  • Ranked brands may licence their WCRC badge for marketing use. Contact consulting@wcrcint.com.

About WCRC. WCRC (World Centre for Research and Consulting) is an independent research and consulting organisation. It publishes brand rankings including the World's Most Powerful 100 Brands, regional and national Most Powerful 100 Brands rankings, and national Most Trusted D2C Brands rankings, through its sites wcrcint.com, wcrcleaders.com and mostvaluablebrands.com. The WCRC Intelligence Unit publishes research briefings and industry analysis.

Media contact. WCRC Intelligence Unit, consulting@wcrcint.com

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Disclaimers

  1. Who was considered. Only brands whose owners publish financial results were considered for the underlying rankings. Brands that do not publish their financials have not been assessed or ranked. Not being in this analysis says nothing about a brand's quality.
  2. Source of every fact. This analysis uses only the facts published in WCRC's 2026 rankings named on this page, each checked twice against independent public sources. Scores, ranks and facts are as published in those rankings.
  3. Comparing scores. Brands from different rankings in the same family share one scoring method, so their scores can be read side by side. Scores marked provisional are WCRC desk assessments awaiting validation by the WCRC Business Intelligence Unit.
  4. Independent opinion. This analysis is WCRC's independent research and opinion, based on publicly available information as of November 2026. It is not an endorsement of any brand.
  5. Not a valuation or advice. Scores measure brand strength. They are not a financial valuation, and nothing here is investment, financial or purchasing advice.
  6. Revenue. Revenue is shown as per company filings for the latest available financial year. Where only group revenue is published, the group figure is shown and labelled. WCRC has not audited any figure.
  7. Trademarks. Brand names and trademarks belong to their owners and are used here for identification only. Their use does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by WCRC.
  8. Use of the badge. Ranked brands may use their WCRC badge only as provided, unaltered and linked to their ranking page. Any other use of the WCRC name, badge or data needs WCRC's written permission.
  9. Rights and AI. © 2026 WCRC. All rights reserved. WCRC's scoring methods are proprietary. Copying, text and data mining, and use of this content to train artificial intelligence models are not permitted without written permission; WCRC expressly reserves these rights, including under Article 4 of EU Directive 2019/790.
  10. Corrections. To report an error or ask for a review, write to consulting@wcrcint.com. Corrections are made promptly.