Dior, Louis Vuitton, Saint Laurent, Gucci and Prada have been named the top-performing luxury fashion brands across social media in the new Luxury State of Influence Report by influencer and social intelligence platform, WeArisma.

The report uncovers the power of influential voices in luxury brands’ marketing strategies. WeArisma’s proprietary analytics metric ‘Ripple Impact’ shows how the impact of influencers’ content is significantly further reaching and engaging than brands’ owned content. Across the five highest-performing luxury fashion and jewellery brands worldwide, Ripple Impact generated four times more Earned Media Value (EMV), five times as many impressions, four and half times more engagement and 33 times more content than content from the brands’ accounts.

Dior, which saw the highest total overall impact from influencer voices among global luxury brands in 2024, had a Ripple Impact that almost tripled the number of consumers seeing content about it compared to its owned media footprint. Saint Laurent also saw influencer content generate 13 times more engagement than their owned content.

Changing consumer preferences means luxury fashion brands are increasingly turning to influencers with authentic voices and close relationships with their communities. These partnerships, rooted in strong resonance and credibility, increase a brand’s Ripple Impact, allowing it to influence more potential consumers than through its own social media channels. Strong Resonance, the percentage of consumers interacting with influencer content compared to the total number viewing it, and Virality, the degree to which content spreads beyond an influencer’s direct following, also build credibility through meaningful community.

Saint Laurent’s Grade A Virality rating reflects that influencer content mentioning the brand spreads far beyond immediate audiences. It is the fifth-highest luxury brand worldwide for Resonance, with a 14% resonance score, demonstrating that content is well-received among target audiences. This has been driven by a strong social media strategy and constant buzz around accessories, including the Le 5 à 7 hobo bag which has been spotted on the shoulders of the Saint Laurent ambassadors – Zoë Kravitz and Hailey Bieber.

Luxury brands are also looking beyond traditional promotional content to reach their potential customers, tapping into cultural moments to appeal to both broad and niche luxury audiences.

At the Paris Olympics, Louis Vuitton expertly displayed how a considered influencer programme can unlock value beyond direct partnership impact. With celebrities including Zendaya, Rosalia, Jeremy Allen White and Spike Lee on the roster, 90% of Louis Vuitton’s EMV at the Paris Olympics was generated by organic content beyond paid partnerships.

The impact of influencer content on luxury brands spreads beyond fashion, with similar results seen for jewellery and watch brands. Bulgari and Cartier had particularly strong results, with Bulgari shining in impressions and EMV while Cartier leads in mentions and engagements.

Jenny Tsai, CEO and founder of WeArisma, said: “With over 130 million influential sources across the world today, ensuring you are leveraging the right voice to influence your target customer is essential. Evaluating a partnership’s efficacy in this new era requires a new way of thinking about success. While metrics like Earned Media Value are well suited for showing which brands have the most exclusive partnerships, they don’t necessarily spotlight those that are building the most authentic connections with target customers or those whose name travels far beyond the communities of brands or even influential voices and into the vast interconnected social media web. Metrics such as Virality and Resonance and their contribution to Ripple Impact are incredibly useful to build a holistic view of influencers’ impact on luxury fashion brands’ success.”

Top 10 Global Voices in Luxury by Earned Media Value