This Cardi B-Approved Brand Was More Googled Than Dior This Year

On Wednesday, Google released its 2017 Year in Search, research determining the most-searched terms of the year, and while the usual suspects are noted as far as fashion brands are concerned — Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Supreme, Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, and Valentino — one fast-fashion brand managed to crack the top ten. If you’re thinking it was one of the established multi-million dollar brands like Forever 21 or Zara, then we’ve got a surprise for you. Drum roll, please: Fashion Nova, the brand championed by our favourite reality stars on Instagram, including Cardi B, came in at number three on the list.

The “Bodak Yellow” rapper succinctly summed up her love for the brand on Instagram, saying: “Still on a budget hoe!!! I could never stop wearing my @fashionnova! Ima wear it till the day I die!!!” Cardi B may be onto something by choosing to wear designers and brands that won’t bankrupt her fans who want to achieve her look. Her stylist, Kollin Carter, tells WWD, “We always make it a point to support emerging designers whose lines are just as good but may not be as expensive. He continued: “We like to be relatable in that aspect, like, ‘OK, we have this $2,000 shoe, but let’s place it with this top that any girl around the way would be able to afford.’ That’s really important to us.”

Nicki Minaj loves to include Fashion Nova for a high-low mix, often wearing the brand’s jeans with her quilted jumbo Chanel bags. Amber Rose and Blac Chyna, too have been spotted in the brand's slinky wares. It isn’t a stretch to say Fashion Nova speaks to people typically excluded from fashion, and perhaps that’s the secret to their success. Even the major gossip Instagram account, The Shade Room, is always documenting who is wearing the latest Fashion Nova, posting when the website is having a sale, prompting followers to shop but save some “schmoney” (Cardi B’s word), in the process.

Who would have thought one of the most successful clothing brands this year, did it all without an expensive, celebrity-filled fashion campaign or spread in a magazine?