Fashion brands and retailers among ‘most innovative’ companies

Online giant Amazon has been named the ‘most innovative’ company for “offering even more, even faster and smarter” in the 10th edition of Fast Company’s World’s Most Innovative Companies ranking.

In the ranking, Amazon came out ahead of Google, Uber, Apple and Snap to take the number one spot, thanks to its rapid expansion of Prime, plus its plans to enter the physical world of retail, said Fast Company.

Other fashion brands making the top 50 companies includes Kenzo, which Fast Company says is for “ripping up the seams of fashion marketing” with its directed short film ‘Kenzo World’ which helped launch the brand’s first fragrance.

Also featured is the Clique Media Group, which owns Who What Wear fashion website for its “parlaying fashion advice into retail gold” after branched into apparel with its catwalk trends collection in collaboration with Target.

In addition, Hyperbeast, were praised for “uniting sneakerheads into a lucrative demographic” for its streetwear site that has grown from being a sneaker review hub to a multifaceted platform that includes online marketplace HBX that sells everything from Yeezy Boosts to Leica cameras.

Amazon, Kenzo, Cole Haan, and Adidas named among ‘innovative’ companies

The ranking also highlights top 10 lists in 36 sectors including retail where TJ Maxx made the cut for “bringing a delightful sense of urgency back to offline shopping”. Fast Company states that it is impressive that with its limited e-commerce presence that the discount retailer still reported a sales increase from 5 percent to 7 percent in 2016 on average and that revenue was up 30 percent in the last five years.

In the style top ten, Kenzo were joined by Thinx, underwear brand that uses highly absorbent fabric to be used during periods, while Gucci was praised for “using statement pieces to buck the luxury sales slump”, and Tom Ford made the list for taking “see now, buy now” to new heights.

Other fashion brands in the style ranking includes Adidas for “outfitting the post-athleisure world”, Cuyana, a direct-to-consumer women’s fashion brand for pioneering a movement to encourage customers to buy “fewer, better things”, and Cole Haan for fusing dress shoes with the comfort of a sneaker as part of its GrandRevolution footwear collection for men and women.

Commenting on Cole Haan’s inclusion in the ranking, chief executive, Jack Boys said: "To earn the position as a Most Innovative Company and to be surrounded by such incredible talent is an honour. We're so proud of our team's accomplishments and their tireless efforts to continue to bring a constantly evolving roster of innovative and stylish lifestyle collections to our customer.”

There was also praise for Coach for breathing “new life” into a legacy brand, M.Gemi were highlighted for eliminating the middleman to sell luxury shoes, while 1Atelier were commended for “turning shoppers into high-end handbag designers” for allowing customers to design every detail of their handbag, choosing from premium leathers, including exotic pythons and crocodiles.

Other sectors in the ranking includes Advertising and marketing which was topped by Facebook for its new creative advertising products and Design that featured Snap that introduced smart eyeglasses that allow wearers to capture short videos.

Image: Amazon Website