The Fashion United: international fashion industry benchmark index has made a big entrance to 2012. Gaining over 12% during the first three months of the year, the FashionUnited Top 100 Index has climbed 154 basic points from 1276.2 on the 1st of January, to on 1430.69 on first of April. The FashionUnited Top 100 Index has seen a rise of12.1% in Q1 2012, thanks to better than expected results within its listed companies. This compares to the decline the benchmark index suffered in the same period a year ago, when it lost over 75 points or a 6%. As it happened last year, the fashion and apparel industry is proving its right to stand on its own, as the FashionUnited easily outsmarted other international benchmark indexes such as S&P 500 (+ 11,1%) or British FTSE 100 – which added 12% during the first quarter -. NASDAQ 100, which climbed by 18.7%, is quarter, while Japanese NIKKEI 225 won 19.3%. Annual growth for the index and its companies can also been seen when comparing the very first day of the year 2011 to the same date in 2012: a 2.1% jump. Positive difference gets more stressed when comparing the closes of the index the 1st of April 2011 to the 1st of April 2012: the FashionUnited Top 100 Index gained an imposing 21.8%. The international fashion industry saw a 52week high of 1446.09 points on 28th of March 2012 while the low for the same period was noted on 1st April, when the index fell to 1174.3. Fossil crowns the Index with a 66% hike With regards to the best performers within the index, Fossil became the crop of the crème, adding an impressive 66.5%, followed by the investors´ darling Lululemon Athletica (+58.9%), and Liz Claiborne (+55.2%). Billabong International increased by 54.4%, while troubled Esprit did it by 53.5%. The top ten for faster risers was to be completed by Prada (+45%), Aeropostale (+44%), Zumiez (+36.5%), as well as by K-Swiss, Hugo Boss AG and BENETTON GROUP. On the other hand, True Religion led the big losers´ chapter when fell by 22,6%, dragging the likes of Deckers Outdoor Corp (- 17,5%). Other companies that fared weakly were Provogue India, and its fellow Indian Koutons and Bombay Rayon Fashions Limited.Source: Fashion United
