Introduction 

Fashion happens in our everyday lives. It is all around us. It has existed since humankind began. In every story, fashion was always discussed, described, and appreciated, known or unknown to the narrator and the audience. Fashion can be likened to a free-spirited mother that allows her children the freedom of creativity and accepts their innovations. It just seems to fit, whichever way you style it with some touch of know-how. It might have a different look in several places, but it brings unified results; beauty, creativity, joy, and pride.

Since change is constant with time, fashion trends have evolved significantly. Usually, trends are a repetition over time but with different styles and designs. Fashion styles and designs are selected according to preferences and tastes. Man is greedy, so his taste for new fashion never stops. Today, several brands have stepped up to meet fashion wants due to high demand. Only a few have made it to the top in the fashion community. Among the few is Balenciaga vs Gucci.  

They are some famous brands that have been in existence for years. You might be unsure what differences exist between them since they are big brands. Make sure to read till the last word so that you can grasp the distinctions between Balenciaga vs Gucci.

• The Balenciaga Brand
• The Gucci Brand
• Which Brand is Higher?

The Balenciaga Brand

Cristóbal Balenciaga created this famous Paris-based fashion brand. As an innovative man, he started it in San Sebastián in the country of Spain in the early 20th century, dated around 1919. Cristòbal was already a fashion designer in Spain before he began the fashion company. Balenciaga first started as a boutique and grew with time into Barcelona and Madrid. About 50 years later, Balenciaga’s products were standouts. He produced solid clothes and had unique styles like extended collars and reduced bracelet sleeves. Dignitaries wore his products, and in the early 60s, he made a dress for Fabiola, Queen of Belgium, for her wedding. He was well respected and regarded by Dior as “the master of us all” because he remained popular as an extraordinary couturier that never reduced his quality. He was so outstanding that people travelled under risky conditions to see his products during World War II. 

Balenciaga owns about 180 stores globally, including Paris and New York, with over 1900 staff in only two of its locations. Its products are expensive and full of quality. As a luxury brand known for quality, it sources the best raw materials, giving durability to its finished product. And despite its high costs, it still has increased demands. Celebrities mostly wear it, so everyone seen on a Balenciaga tends to be regarded as having high status, standard, and fashion taste. In 2018, Balenciaga’s Crocodile Work Bag sold for over $7,600. Usually, Balenciaga uses lightweight, high-quality leather materials to produce its bags, making them light and long-lasting. Its Bombardier Shearling Jacket sold for over $4,750 in 2018. A pair of Balenciaga sneakers and a leather bag can last for an average of three years. As a luxury brand parented by Kering, it has a speculated net worth of over $50million.

The Gucci Brand

The Gucci brand is a subsidiary of the luxury Kering group and is widely famous for producing shoes, bags, make-up, ready-to-wear, etc. It was created in Florence, Italy, by an Italian named Guccio Gucci in 1921. Before the birth of the Gucci brand, Guccio moved to London for a job at the expensive Savoy hotel in 1987.

As a staff in the hotel, his job was to pack and unpack the luggage of the hotel’s customers. In this course, he observed how these rich people loved luxury fashion and had different preferences. Later on, he worked in other places and eventually served under the owner of Franzi. Ultimately, Guccio was able to purchase a shop in 1921 for importing and selling leather luggage.

After some time, he started making his leather luggage, so he got a more extensive and more expensive space and employed skilled artisans to increase his production. After sixteen years, Gucci began producing handbags and owns more than 480 stores globally with ignited stakes in Japan, Western Europe, and Northern America. Gucci products are very costly and of high quality.

The Gucci Stuart Hughes Belt sells for 250,000 US Dollars. This is due to his and’s wealthy ancestry and business system. Gucci’s designs have a high taste. Its products are made for people of high class, as Gucci products are termed to be on the high end. Many of its customers would not mind paying $600 for a pair of glasses. It is recorded that the Gucci Crocodile Tote Bag with Bamboo Handle was sold for 32,000 US Dollars. A Gucci leather bag and a pair of Gucci sneakers can last for years of constant usage. In 2019, Gucci made over 9 billion Euros and gas a net worth of over 15 Billion Dollars.

Which Brand is Higher – Balenciaga vs Gucci?

Balenciaga vs Gucci is competitive in quality and style. Although they originate from different countries and thrive under the same company, their analyses produce different results. In notable aspects, let us make comparisons.

Price Tags

These Kering designer brands make products that classy and high-end customers use, so their price tags are always expected to be standouts compared to other regular fashion brands. Also, they have big names, and big names attract high market prices. As expected, their loyal customers will stay glued to them as long as they keep delivering up-to-taste products. Looking at Balenciaga vs Gucci, Gucci products are more expensive than Balenciaga products. Well, according to history, Gucci had always been accustomed to high-priced products and maintained that legacy. Handbags are sizeable but an essential part of complete fashionable outfits. The multi-designer Jackie O. Gucci handbag with many designs and symbols has a price range of about 1000 to 7400 US Dollars. The popular Balenciaga Lariat is part of the motorcycle line of handbags, and it costs between 950 and 2400 US Dollars.  

Popularity

Both brands are very famous and sought after. Their patronage by celebrities has continually kept them on the spot in the fashion world. In this aspect, Gucci had always stolen the show from Balenciaga. However, after Balenciaga changed its creative director, it experienced some turns and soared into the skies beyond Gucci’s heights.

Recently, it was listed as the most searched fashion brand on Lyst, surpassing Gucci on the chart. After a series of fashion events like the Met Gala, Balenciaga ranked as the most prominent brand for the third quarter of 2021. The brand had an increased search rate of more than 500%. The Georgian creative director of Balenciaga, Demna Gvasalia, hopes to keep this high search record and stay above Gucci in the rankings.

Despite Balenciaga’s search ranking, Gucci still maintains a higher social media follower base than Balenciaga. On Instagram, Gucci has over 40 million followers compared to Balenciaga, with over 12 million followers.

Durability

Apart from the names, these brands offer long-lasting products. They do not just stay long; they maintain their bright looks and beauty. Well, durability was a factor that brought them to their positions in the first place. Balenciaga bags are made from lightweight leather, known as lambskin. They last for an average of three years. Gucci, on the other hand, uses leather from cowhide to make its products. You can use a Gucci bag for up to three years and still have a high resale value. Products from both brands have robust quality.

Trends

As high-end fashion brands, they definitely can predict trends before they happen. It is advantageous because it keeps them abreast and offers them enough time to implement more comprehensive business strategies. Sometimes, brands like these set up trends. The trends may not last long, but they create significant effects in the fashion industry and profit the company. Fashion brands should always follow trends rather than create them. And both brands are very trendy.

Market Worth

Over the years, Gucci vs Balenciaga has relentlessly made massive profits from thousands of dollars to millions of dollars. In no time, with the rate of increased demands, they will record profits of billions of dollars in a market season. Despite being gigantic brands, they do not have equal profits and market worth. From 2016 to 2021, Gucci has recorded a net increase of about 20% every year. And in 2021, it has hit a net worth of over 15 billion US Dollars. On the other hand, the French brand Balenciaga makes a yearly profit of over 10 million dollars and currently has an estimated net worth of over 50 million US Dollars.

Employee Size

Larger employee sizes tend to increase productivity and customer satisfaction. Most of Gucci vs Balenciaga’s staff are employed at their local stores in different locations. Also, a bigger employee size means a broader reach to customers and a more significant avenue for improvement. In all 487 Gucci stores, the Italian brand, Gucci, has over 17000 employees, with up to 1000 employees only in America. Balenciaga in 2019 recorded 1325 employees globally.

Weakness 

Weaknesses? Yes. Do not be surprised. Every successful brand has its shortcomings, even the big Balenciaga vs Gucci. As much as these weaknesses might not be visible, they affect the development of that brand. It has been observed that there is a need for Gucci to make expensive financial investments so that it can preserve its business name and future. Also, Gucci suffers from imitated counterfeit products made by unknown producers and vendors. Recent studies show that Gucci is not prevalent in growing economic communities like China and India. It tends to yield more profits as a startup in developing economies.

For Balenciaga, it constantly changes its designers, and these changes tend to cause a change in its positions on the market caps because of a shift in focus. 

Conclusion

No doubt, both brands are enormous and popularly loved brands, but they do not have equal statistics. First of all, Gucci is a bigger brand than Balenciaga because of its net worth, product prices, and employee size. Although Balenciaga has recently claimed the spotlight over Gucci and other brands, it still has not gained as much virtual strength compared to Gucci. They are both durable and offer top-notch quality. The spotting difference between Balenciaga vs Gucci is the massive gap between the prices of their products. As long as fashion trends, these two brands will continue to be spot-on.