StockX and The RealReal on Interbrand's 2020 Breakthrough Brands list

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jul 16, 2020

Interbrand launched its list of the 30 Breakthrough Brands for 2020 on Thursday and a number of fashion and beauty firms are included in the ranking of names that are “set to revolutionise their markets”.

They include TheRealReal luxury resale business; ThirdLove lingerie that offers half-sizes for bra cups and an app for better at-home fit assessment; sneaker ‘stock market’ StockX; and Gen Z cult cosmetics brand Milk Makeup.

They’re among a diverse group that also includes digital banks, food firms offering meat alternatives, wellness specialists, electric vehicles, peer-to-peer services and more.

Interbrand predicts that “these challenger brands have got what it takes to become household names” and expects them to be able to follow in the footsteps of businesses like Deliveroo, Peloton, Glossier, Slack, TaskRabbit and Flipkart that were tipped for success in its two previous reports in 2016 and 2017.

The company said that since its first report in 2016, “innovation has shifted from the tech start-up epicentre of Silicon Valley and has moved away from massive software and marketplace enterprises that simply connected buyers to sellers via a digital platform”. That trend can be seen clearly from the fashion and beauty names on the list.

Interbrand added that there has also been “a significant shift in leadership – within the 30 Breakthrough Brands 27% have a CEO who is a person of colour and 30% have a CEO who is a woman, compared with only a 10% CEO representation for either demographics in Fortune 500 companies”.

The trends that can be seen in the new list include businesses like StockX “serving thriving subcultures”, as well as “sustainable consumerism”, values as status symbols, digital-first health, and “playful brands”. This latter trend can be seen most strongly through the inclusion of Milk Makeup.