Brand Comebacks in 2025: 10 Viral Moments That Put Legacy Names Back On Top

Crowds don’t crown comebacks; culture does. In 2025, the biggest rebrands of 2025 weren’t logo flips but moments people wanted to watch, duet, and wear. If you care about brands that regained popularity in 2025, start with the ten below—each one turned a viral spark into measurable lift, from new customers to raised guidance.

At a glance

• Gap’s “Better in Denim” became a genuine takeover: 400M views and 8B impressions, with Gap brand comps up 4% year over year (Business Insider).
• American Eagle kept its nerve amid backlash to “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans,” adding nearly 1M new customers in weeks (Wall Street Journal).
• Levi’s reignited icon energy with a Shaboozey and Matty Matheson “Icons” campaign and doubled down on core by selling Dockers (Levi Strauss & Co.) 
• Adidas closed the Yeezy chapter and rode terrace-style virality into a turnaround year while plotting post-Samba evolution (Reuters)

The data behind these picks

• We focus on visible 2025 momentum: raised guidance, revenue beats, sell-outs, customer growth, or footprint expansion.
  
  
• Proof points come from official releases and outlets; social posts are used only when they’re the campaign itself.
  
  
• Each entry pairs why the moment worked with concrete signals so these aren’t just vibes.

1) Gap — “Better in Denim” made dancing a KPI again

Gap’s denim push didn’t try to reinvent the wheel; it greased it. A 90-second film with KATSEYE dancing to “Milkshake” turned a heritage ad style into a 2025 spectacle and pushed the brand back into everyday conversation—exactly the kind of brand comebacks in 2025 that move both culture and comps. Seven straight quarters of Gap brand comp growth and record engagement show the lift wasn’t imaginary (Business Insider). Compare this campaign to American Eagle's Sydney Sweeney campaign with our guide!

• 400M views, 8B impressions, No. 1 TikTok search during launch week (Business Insider).
  
  
• Clear, joyful choreography and a hook the internet could repeat—no controversy required (Business Insider).
  
  
• Gap brand comps up 4% year over year despite tariff headwinds, keeping the flywheel turning (Business Insider).
  

2) American Eagle — controversy, conviction, and conversion

American Eagle’s “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans” spot lit up timelines for all the messy reasons, but leadership refused to flinch. The result: nearly a million new customers between July and September and sell-outs on featured denim, a textbook case of brands that regained popularity in 2025 by standing firm when the internet wobbled (Wall Street Journal).

• CEO told teams to stay calm and keep the ad live, then watched sales accelerate (Wall Street Journal).
  
  
• Follow-on coverage underscored the “don’t blink” strategy and customer gains (FOX Business).
  
  
• The jeans “war” that followed helped the entire category trend even higher (Business Insider).
  

3) Levi’s — Western storytelling and ruthless focus

Levi’s went back to icons with a global campaign starring Shaboozey and Matty Matheson, three cinematic films that made the 501 and friends feel like characters again. Pair that with selling Dockers to fund core growth and you have one of the biggest rebrands of 2025 by behaviour, not branding—less noise, more signal (Levi Strauss & Co. | Reuters). Levi's also dropped many viral video chapters with Beyoncé this year as an homage to Cowboy Carter, their collaboration collection and her hit song Levi's Jeans with Post Malone!

• “Icons” taps a Western-Americana mood that keeps denim culturally central (Levi Strauss & Co.).
  
  
• Divesting Dockers concentrates spend where social heat already lives (Reuters).
  
  
• Trade coverage chronicled the creative and casting strategy’s reach (Sourcing Journal). 

4) Adidas — closing Yeezy, surfing Sambas, planning the sequel

Adidas ended the Yeezy unwind, then let terrace style fuel a turnaround—Samba and Gazelle powered a monster 2024 and kept brand heat high into 2025. The smartest part is the pivot to what comes after Samba, with fresh variations and women-led demand guarding against fatigue, a case study in brands that regained popularity in 2025 and kept it moving (Reuters | Business of Fashion).

• Adidas sold the last Yeezy pairs by end-2024, clearing the decks (Reuters).
  
  
• Women drove the Samba surge, lifting resale and retail momentum (Business of Fashion).
  
  
• New spins on Samba keep TikTok primed for the next wave (GQ).
  

5) Lucky Brand — Addison Rae turned nostalgia into new demand

Lucky Brand didn’t rent celebrity; it let Addison Rae co-create. Her ultra-low-rise flare collab arrived with wild postings, a public phone number tease, and performance-ready styling—a Y2K loop that felt modern, not museum. The campaign’s reach and buzz put the label back on feeds alongside the category’s biggest players (Authentic Brands Group | Harper’s Bazaar). 

• Creative direction and casting came from the artist, not a deck (Authentic Brands Group).
• Fashion media amplified the drop across pop and style circles (Harper’s Bazaar). 
• The wider “jeans war” context pushed comparisons and discovery (Business Insider).

6) Crocs — the Windows XP collab that broke the internet’s fourth wall

Crocs brand revival leaned into pure nostalgia with Microsoft x Crocs: Bliss-wallpaper clogs with Clippy Jibbitz rolled out as a sweepstakes from Microsoft’s own channels. Not even for sale, just irresistible—exactly how to spike conversation and keep Crocs at the center of meme-economy footwear in 2025 (The Verge). 

• Employee teaser, then public sweepstakes on Instagram with a tight window (The Verge).
  
  
• Clippy, IE, Recycle Bin charms—shareable details built for social (The Verge).
  
  
• A reminder: scarcity plus humour beats standard drops for attention velocity (The Verge).
  

7) New Balance — the 1906L sneaker-loafer goes couture-viral

New Balance brand comeback kept its quiet-loud playbook humming with the 1906L sneaker-loafer going full fashion via Ganni. It’s weird in the right way, a TikTok-ready silhouette that also looks grown-up, and it fits a brand marching toward a multi-billion plan without shouting. That balance is why this is one of the subtler brands that regained popularity in 2025—culture first, P&L close behind (GQ | Business of Fashion). 

• Ganni x NB 1906L launched Sept 30 at 190 USD, built to trend and travel (GQ).
  
• Management is targeting a path toward 10B in sales over the next few years (Business of Fashion).
  
• The silhouette invites endless styling content—fuel for algorithmic discovery (GQ).
  

8) Birkenstock — Boston clogs, forecast hikes, and durable cool

Birkenstock’s brand comeback in 2025 isn’t loud; it’s constant. With demand for clogs still running hot, the company raised its fiscal 2025 revenue outlook while prices held and capacity expanded—a rare combo in a choppy market. The Boston remained a social-era staple, keeping the brand present in everyday style talk and making this one of the clearest brands that regained popularity in 2025 (Reuters | Teen Vogue). 

• New outlook: at least €2.09B in revenue, with strong Q4 pacing (Reuters). 
• Editors kept the Boston front-and-center in trend lists (Teen Vogue).
  
• Fashion press connected clogs’ seasonal wave to broader boho and comfort cycles (Vogue).
  

9) Abercrombie & Fitch — Wedding Shop flywheel meets steady beats

The biggest rebrand in 2025 is possibly the iconic A&F! A&F’s wedding-guest universe is a machine: TikTok lives, creator try-ons, and an on-site Wedding Shop that’s easy to buy from. The result is durable growth—guidance raised again in late summer and a playbook that turns “what should I wear?” into repeatable revenue, landing Abercrombie among brands that regained popularity in 2025 (Reuters | Abercrombie). 

• FY25 sales growth outlook lifted to 5–7% on the back of strong demand (Reuters). 
• Owned-channel lives launch collections at the exact moment search interest spikes (Facebook post from Abercrombie).
• A dedicated Wedding Shop keeps the path-to-purchase one tap long (Abercrombie).

10) Banana Republic — David Corenswet and the simple-precision reset

A celebrity splash only works if it fits the clothes. Banana Republic’s fall campaign with David Corenswet sold a feeling—fit, fabrics, and grown-up restraint—at the exact moment his star went supernova. The casting and imagery put BR back in moodboards and menswear debates, lifting it into the conversation around brands that regained popularity in 2025 (Men’s Health). 

• Campaign framed around “simple precision” and modern tailoring cues (Men’s Health).
  
  
• Image-first storytelling designed to travel across Instagram and retail windows (Men’s Health).
  
  
• A timely reminder that talent alignment beats stunt casting when you want staying power (Men’s Health).
  

FAQ

Which single moment best captures brand comebacks in 2025?

Gap’s “Better in Denim” checks every box: a simple idea scaled to culture, repeat-watch creative, and a measurable brand lift with comps up and billions of impressions (Business Insider). 

Why are denim brands the ones that came back the most?

People have been going back to basics and classics in 2025, a true homage to Americana culture has been celebrated and there is no better way to do that than embracing some classic American style jeans!

What counts as a “viral moment” versus a full rebrand?

A viral moment is a spike; a comeback ties it to product, price, and distribution. Adidas closing the Yeezy chapter, then broadening beyond Samba, shows how to pair culture with a durable plan (Reuters | Business of Fashion). 

Which play is most copyable for mid-size brands?

Own a lane with creator-led design and launch where your buyer already is. Lucky Brand letting Addison Rae co-direct and tease via wild postings is a ready-to-steal template (Authentic Brands Group). 

What’s the footwear lesson of 2025?

Make silhouettes that style themselves on social. New Balance’s 1906L and Birkenstock’s Boston show how fresh shapes and comfort classics keep feeds fed and forecasts rising (GQ | Reuters).