The curse of the one-hit-wonder: How brands move on from a viral item

Popularity can be a curse. In fashion, that can sometimes translate a little like this: a new brand releases an item that is so hot, so viral, that it can be tempting to just keep on doing it, over and over. But as they say, fly too close to the sun, populate or perish, and so on.

For Blanca Studio founder Ana Piteira, her Icarus moment came after the success of a signature piece, an oversized shirt striped in candy colours, that was released during lockdown. She says for a new brand it was both to her fortune and detriment.

“It was just a matter of timing and that’s what made the shirt stand out,” she says. “It was that piece people could wear at home and still feel put together, but you could also wear it with track pants. But it also wasn’t loungewear. It was this hybrid [item].”

The “problem” with having an item become so successful, or even viral, is that it breeds copycats. Staying ahead of them, and avoiding the “fad brand” tag, takes evolution, something that niggled at Piteira for a while, especially thanks to her background in public relations.

“I didn’t want it [the shirt] to just be a trend or what we are pigeonholed for,” she says. “Like everything in fashion, I thought it could be transient. I didn’t think the shirt would go forever, but I wanted people to be excited by our other pieces.”

Of course, there is a fine line between evolving a brand, and alienating the rusted-on loyalists who have been there from the start. Since the brand launched three years ago, Piteira has been expanding the categories to include knitwear, dresses and, to pick up on yet another trend, matching top-and-bottom sets.

On the runway at Australian Fashion Week in Sydney on Thursday, Piteira extended Blanca’s repertoire to include jeans, a category her customers have been requesting.