LONDON — After drawing some criticism from online naysayers for putting Saint Laurent, a brand that has seen a continuous dip in sales, at the top of the hottest brands ranking for last year’s fourth quarter, Lyst on Wednesday unveiled an updated methodology tracking genuine brand heat that no longer solely focuses on search data collection on the platform.
The recalibrated methodology, implemented for the first quarter with Chanel topping the chart, is now structured around three interconnected dimensions of data — desire, demand and discovery — that aims to offer a more comprehensive and culturally attuned measure of brand heat.
Lyst said desire data measures the volume and intensity of cultural appetite for a fashion brand or product online.
It tracks the volume and sentiment of social conversation across platforms, including Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, Substack, Reddit and emerging channels, with a heavier emphasis on user-generated content volume and engagement, and organic coverage in fashion’s online editorial ecosystem, weighted by outlet authority and sentiment.
Demand data is still mostly sourced from the 160 million annual shoppers on Lyst. The platform said these insights remain the foundation of the Lyst Index.
It includes volume and velocity of brand and product searches on and off the Lyst platform; conversion rate and sales; product page engagement depth, and funnel progression data across Lyst’s user base; full-price sell-through signals; sell-out speed, and product heat concentration within Lyst’s top 1,000 trending items in a quarter.
As for discovery data, Lyst said it tracks inspiration-led queries associated with brands and products, emerging search terms, as well as referral data showing the new digital pathways through which shoppers are connecting with brands and products online.
It also considers the rate at which brands are reaching net-new shoppers versus deepening engagement with an existing base on Lyst, and looks at signals of a brand being discovered beyond its core fashion shopper audience in adjacent online communities such as entertainment, music, sport, art, gaming and film.
Lyst hottest brands ranking for first-quarter 2026.
With the new and evolving methodology in place, which is scored and weighted using a proprietary model refined by the in-house data team, Lyst said a brand can now appear in the Lyst Index regardless of whether it is available to shop on the platform.
A key part of the shake-up was the inclusion of Chanel for the first time in Lyst’s hottest brands ranking, landing at the top spot right above Saint Laurent.
Lyst said the first quarter of 2026 was defined by intense shopper demand and peak cultural visibility, as Matthieu Blazy’s new pieces “ignited a digital groundswell, spreading from inner circle tastemakers outward” when they landed in stores in March. The Chanel pumps and maxi flap bag both made it on the hottest products list this quarter as well.
Other major changes included Dior and Celine entering the ranking at numbers three and 20, respectively, Fendi returning to the list, and Gucci climbing four positions to re-enter the top five league for the first time since fourth-quarter 2022.
Lyst hottest brands ranking for first-quarter 2026.
In terms of trendy products for the first quarter, they are the stand-collar jacket from Saint Laurent; Chanel pumps in green and black; Chinese style track top from Adidas; Celine ballet lace-up shoes; Vivienne Westwood’s Long Fond gown; Chanel maxi flap bag as seen on house ambassador Pedro Pascal; butterfly sunglasses from Saint Laurent; Trader Joe’s tote bag; 1 PM sneakers from Village PM, and tropic 504 flat cap from Kangol.
