439: The Row is just a banana for scale
Brand Rank: Winter 2025 Edition, part II.
Brand Rank is a data-driven index of the most shoppable brands in the Magasin universe. See past Brand Rank reports here.
Top 11-20 recap
11. Zara, 12. Prada, 13. COS, 14. Lemaire, 15. Skims, 16. Gap, 17. Chanel, 18. Ralph Lauren, 19. Aritzia, 20. Max Mara
1. Uniqlo
In months when its Christophe Lemaire-Sarah-Linh Tran-designed U line releases a new collection, Uniqlo’s shopper urgency is like that of Supreme in the twenty-teens with the accessibility of Old Navy in the ‘90s. Overlay that with a Black Friday sale, and it’s Best Buy on Thanksgiving night at the advent of DVD players and flat-screen TVs.
So few brands in history have achieved what Uniqlo has in its era, where we squarely sit today. Only Gap in its heyday came close, which makes me wonder what could happen if Uniqlo played its celebrity spokesperson card a little differently—Cate Blanchett and Roger Federer swing dancing and leap-frogging over one another’s heads? Their current duties as respectable role models alongside the brand’s core design collaborators (Lemaire, Tran, JW, CWK) reads as very sophisticated, but to think of their impact without pulling any of the obvious strings…makes you think.
The leading products this season were all from this one Uniqlo U release: the Pufftech Half Coat, Pufftech Short Blouson, and Double-Face Knit Sweater (the golden item of this send, as it’s what I’m wearing as I write this).
A note: Uniqlo U sells out fast and has spurred a cottage industry of scalpers with inventory at elevated but not egregious prices. The blouson jacket, down to $19 at its lowest on Uniqlo’s site, is $139 on eBay and $115 on Haruyama, a Japanese brand reseller. Similarly, the quarter-zip sweater, once as little as $9, can be found for $99 on eBay and as a full-zip at the same price on Haruyama.
Key products: PUFFTECH Half Coat, $99 / PUFFTECH Short Blouson, $139 / Double Face Knit Half-Zip Sweater, $99
2. The Row
The Row may have come in shy of first place by only a few notches, but let me put its standing in context. More than any other brand here, The Row shows up as a reference point, a dollar bill or a banana for scale in a Craigslist ad, a universal known against which to measure relative unknowns. While a few brand-specific moments surfaced this season: e.g. the introduction of the new, still-sold-out, under-$1,000 Sally bag and the chart-topping Dahlia bag and high-ranking Lilas pant from my 2025 most-worns list, The Row’s name came up more often as a stand-in for something else.
In our coverage, The Row acted as an anchor when describing the bona fides of a new project (“newly minted cult-favorite footwear brand from the designer that birthed many of the most iconic shoe silhouettes from The Row”), provided the high water mark when measuring the viral potential of a product (“bound to be this winter’s ‘The Row Zipped Boot’ phenomenon”), and was the basis by which we judged a good sale—from Emily Weiss’ closet sale (“I see people with the row in hand”) to Black Friday edits (“Most outrageous find: literally BAGS from THE ROW—a Mini Devon for 36% off”). In the chat, one example out of many similar queries: “Any suggestions for sweatpants or lounge pants that make you feel put together, but don’t cost the price of The Row?”
It is expensive, high-quality, and current. But why say all of that when you can just say, “The Row”?
Key products: Dahlia Baguette Bag (on resale here, $2,700, and here, $1,357) / Vesco Wool Cigarette Pants, $316 $1,320 / Leather biker jacket, $1,265
3. Tory Burch
Tory Sport pulled ahead of Tory Burch runway collection this quarter, with a lot of the breakout hits from late 2025 scooping similar styles form luxury brands just hitting shelves now (and if you ask me if I’d rather have Tory’s golf jacket or Saint Laurent’s canvas one, I’m going to go for the one that’s $440).
Finger to the wind, I’d say shoppers will continue to favor this side of the business this season, too, buoyed by a new drop of Sport pieces included in the greater R26 collection. (My callouts: this track jacket and these nylon recovery pants.)
Key products: Nylon Plaid Golf Jacket, $440 / Denim Handbag Jacket, $1,195 / Mesh Tote, $199 $270
4. Khaite
Neck and neck with it’s closest mass approximation, J.Crew, Khaite has recovered its standing in the top five (its last time here was spring ‘25). While we published plenty of Khaite news over the quarter—zebra accessory-themed, much of it—it was the chat that won it its spot. The tone being used over there to discuss the brand is deeply inside baseball; products referred to by their official name, heel heights and inseams described by inches…spoken like the group of fashion pundits they are.
The other component here, of course, is the Black Friday sale that secured and held the top-selling spot more than three weeks ahead of Black Friday proper. It’s long gone now, but Net-A-Porter has a wide selection up to 70% off.
Key products: Sowen Jean in Carlyle, $620 / Harvey Over-the-Knee High Boot in Zebra Print Haircalf and Black Suede, $3,200 / Khaite Ello Jacket, $1,920 $3,200
5. J.Crew
We wrote about J.Crew often, and the response bled through to the order and click scores—we didn’t give the people what they wanted per se, but we gave them something they didn’t know they wanted yet. Readers responded mainly to our coverage of cozy, polished staples that nod to the catalog-era nostalgia current management is harnessing to great effect (see: the latest U.S. Ski and Snowboard capsule). Engagement clustered around knitwear, plus those classically ‘holiday’ poplin pajamas. Familiarity, when framed correctly, still converts.
Key products: Cotton Poplin Pajama Short Set, $128 / Bell-Sleeve Mini Sweater-Dress, $268 / Classic Fair Isle Cardigan, $158
6. Alex Mill
Alex Mill’s rank this quarter was driven by highly efficient click and order-driving links, attributable to some of those bigger (and lingering) Black Friday and Boxing Day markdowns. The Orders Score punches above its weight, suggesting readers who clicked were already primed to buy. Outerwear did the heavy lifting: The waxed Highland Utility Jacket and the Agnes Donegal Sweater both benefited from price drops that reframed their midprice-homegrown stature to a steal that will actually last in the closet beyond bargain season. Even the Bowery Street leather jacket, full-price and unfussy, drew attention as a forever buy; attention drawn to new releases amid generous markdowns, perhaps?
Key products: Highland Utility Jacket In Waxed Cotton, $130 $325 / Agnes Donegal Sweater, $124 $248 / Bowery Street Leather Jacket $895
7. Leset
Leset’s relevance this season was fueled by conversation; its Chat Score signaling how often it came up organically in chatroom discussions about elevated basics. Readers weren’t just clicking; they were talking, debating fit, fabric, and whether a “perfect tee” actually exists. The Margo tee 2-pack anchored that discourse, while the Kyoto Carpenter Pant and Barb Bomber jacket extended the brand’s range into sharper, styled territory. Leset continues to benefit from being our community’s shorthand for easy intention, a category we take pride in promoting here.
Key products: The Margo tee 2-pack, $140 $156 / Kyoto Carpenter Pant, $280 / Barb Bomber jacket $650
8. Jamie Haller
Jamie Haller leads this quarter’s unofficial indie awards, representing the top bottom-up brand whose season-less products have demonstrated no struggle in keeping up with the Uniqlos and Khaites of the retail world. It’s a “Substack brand,” as others have pointed out before—I think it’s meant to be derisive or at least flattening when applied as a label, but as one of those Substackers who writes about it, I will massage out of it the highest compliment: Jamie Haller has managed to win over the snobbiest and most jaded consumers (this part is also complimentary) on the strength of her shoes and clothes alone, relying the bare minimum on marketing or seductive branding and instead simply knowing and striving to better know her consumer.
Key products: The Loverboy Jacket, $598 / The San Diego Sandal, $498
9. Phoebe Philo
Everyone wanted to fuck the $22,000 python-stud leather jacket, but what they actually married were the zip-front snow boots and gathered flats. The real Phoebe Philo shopping trend this season, though, were all the European off-price sites where we uncovered contract-breeching sales. Cettire (taken down) and Italist as previously reported, plus new revelations SMETS, Giglio, and Overstock.com (!). We are well past the point of stuffing the paste back in the tube, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the famously cagey brand’s sales policy shift to allow preferred vendors like Bergdorf’s list the collections on their own sites soon.
Key products: Stud Jacket, $22,000 / Bumper Bootie, $1,350 / Grey Jeans, $777 $1,547
10. Toteme
Toteme is its own person, sure, but in the chat, it is Khaite Jr. Or, alternatively, COS Sr. Not quite in the league of brands whose individual products have their own name brand recognition (as with Khaite, The Row), but a de facto choice and fixture in a class of reader comments about outerwear, cashmere, boots. In short: Reliably recommendable. Not only that, but it’s having a sale right now, too.
Key products: Pleated Wool-Blend Straight-Leg Pants, $300 $500 / Oversized Quilted Cotton Coat, $147 $980 (!) / Slouch Waist Wool Dress Black, $930
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