Converse and Threadless most popular on social media

Converse and Threadless are undefeatable. Just like in 2012, these American brands are still dominating the number one slot in the FashionUnited Facebook Index and FashionUnited Twitter Index. With no less than 36.2 million fans

on Facebook, Converse is breaking all the records. The brand behind the immensely popular All Stars is way ahead of its competitors. Victoria's Secret comes in second with 22.1 million likes, followed by Adidas (20 million) and Zara (18,3 million).

Jeans label Levi's is rapidly closing in on the top three and jumped from tenth to fifth place last year with 17.8 million fans. Louis Vuitton is another big climber. Within just one year, the fashion house moved from the 24th position to the ninth with 13.4 million likes.

Surprising debut

The highest listed newcomer is Vans. With 10.9 million fans, the brand now occupies 13th place on the FashionUnited Facebook Index.

Victoria's Secret's little sister, Victoria Secret Pink, had a hard time keeping up with its competition and was forced to relinquish four places. Abercrombie & Fitch, however, dropped the furthest. The Facebook page featuring pictures of buffed men was clearly not as in demand this year as it fell from 15th to 22nd place with 7.5 million likes.

Online T-shirt design shop Threadless is once again the most popular brand on Twitter with 2.146,194 followers, followed closely by US brand TOMS, with 2.141,036 followers. Just like on Facebook, Victoria's Secret scores high on Twitter. With over 2 million followers, the lingerie brand is good for third place.

All the commotion surrounding Hedi Slimane's new name for fashion house Yves Saint Laurent had a negative effect on the twitter account @YSL. Saint Laurent dropped from third to sixth place. H&M and Burberry grabbed the opportunity and climbed to fourth and fifth place, with 1.95 million and 1.76 million followers respectively.

Forever 21 also enjoyed a growth spurt as it climbed from 16th to eighth place with one million followers. That, however, is nothing compared to Gucci. Within a year, the Italian fashion house moved from 23rd to tenth place with almost 724,000 followers.

Decrease in popularity

Lacoste is the biggest loser this year. The polo brand dropped from the tenth slot to 25th place with a meagre 370,000 followers. Coach also lost a great deal of followers. Last year, the luxury brand still occupied 12th place, but with only 383,000 followers this year, the brand now has to contend with 24th place.

It is of note that many fashion companies employ different social media strategies for Facebook and Twitter. Although Threadless is the most followed brand on Twitter, the company does not even feature in the top 25 of the FashionUnited Facebook Index. The opposite is true of Facebook favourite Converse, which does not appear in the top 25 of the FashionUnited Twitter Index.

Fashion companies that target both Facebook and Twitter are H&M, Burberry and Victoria's Secret. The latter is the only brand that appears in the top three of both the FashionUnited Facebook Index and the FashionUnited Twitter Index.