Asian stars were behind the highest Media Impact Value figures at Women’s Milan Fashion Week, according to Launchmetrics’ latest data report.
On March 17, Launchmetrics, fashion’s trusted source for holistic insights, revealed its Women’s Milan Fashion Week Fall-Winter 2025 report. According to the data, the event, which spanned from Feb. 25 to Mar. 3 garnered $342.6 million in Media Impact Value, an algorithm that assigns a monetary value to each post, interaction and media article to measure brand activity impact and marketing performance across channels. The value represents a 25% increase since last year.
Milan Fashion Week experienced a surge of engagement on Chinese social media platforms like Weibo, Douyin and Red Note. TikTok activity also grew by 72% Year on Year (YoY). However, Instagram still dominates the channel mix, accruing 56% of the total MIV at the event.
Asian Voices Dominate
As for the Voices, the media remained the undisputed king, tallying 58% of the total MIV. Celebrity voices followed suit, generating 18%. Meanwhile, influencer voices garnered 15%.
Similar to previous seasons, Filipino, Thai and South Korean personalities dominated the celebrity voice ranking. In fact, celebrities from the Asia Pacific region drove 84% of Milan Fashion Week’s total MIV. Filipina star Heart Evangelista, a fixture at every fashion event worldwide, topped the list, generating $8.7 million in MIV. Evangelista, who first rose to fame in the Philippines as an actress and artist, has been one of the greatest MIV-driving forces at global Fashion Weeks for various years.
Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach took second place with $6.7 million, while South Korean stars and Prada ambassadors Karina and Byeon Woo-seok landed the third and fourth spots with $4.5 and $3.6 million respectively.
The fifth place went to rising star Gulf, who repped Thailand in the top celebrity ranking, garnering a total of $3 million in MIV. Gulf has been a growing force at Fashion Week, boasting associations with various fashion brands, including Onitsuka Tiger.
Leading Asian Names
In an additional ranking featuring only APAC stars, Launchmetrics also lists K-pop stars Momo, Bang Chan, Hyunjin and &Team, as well as Thai actor Billkin. These celebrities were responsible for millions worth of Media Impact Value, via their social media accounts.
K-pop stars Bang Chan and Hyunjin also led the ranking of top APAC celebrities per average MIV. The power duo, members of the music sensation Stray Kids, authored posts worth $1.4 and $1.35 million on average. In fact, as Launchmetrics previously reported, Bang Chan was responsible for Milan Fashion Week’s top-earning placement — an Instagram post that portrayed him in head-to-toe Fendi and garnered $1.4 million in MIV.
Italian Brands Won Big at MFW
Regarding brands, Milan Fashion Week brought the spotlight on Italian brands. Gucci, Prada, Fendi and Versace, in that order, topped the (brand) Power Player ranking.
Gucci, which showcased its first collection since the departure of creative director Sabato de Sarno, accrued $47.3 million in MIV. The brand’s celebrity-focused social media strategy was partly to thank. The top-performing post related to the FW25 show came from Gucci’s owned media and featured K-pop star Jin on his arrival at the event. The placement amassed $902K in an initial tracking period (Feb. 23 and Mar. 5) and ultimately generated $923K during the extended monitoring.
Gucci’s second best-performing placement on owned media featured campaign star Xiao Zhan. Meanwhile, the brand’s top celebrity placement was authored by Thai actor Billkin, who also emerged as the second top voice at Gucci. The How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies leading man amassed $2.8 million in MIV through 5 placements.
Dsquared2’s Party
In addition to Gucci, Prada, Fendi and Versace; another brand fueling attention during Milan Fashion Week was Dsquared2, which celebrated its 30th anniversary with a star-studded show. The brand made a spectacular jump from the 61st place in the brand ranking to the Top 5. “This meteoric rise was largely fueled by numerous viral moments throughout the show. The performance from Doechii, who had just snagged three Grammy Awards and was named Billboard’s Woman of the Year, became the talk of the town, making up at least a third of the conversations surrounding the show,” explained Launchmetrics.
For a deeper dive into Launchmetrics’ algorithm and data see the full report here.
