Chances are you’ve definitely heard of at least one announcement on luxury fashion houses appointing K-pop idols as their brand ambassadors.
This year started strong for luxury brands with some K-pop idols added to front their campaigns.
Take for instance: K-pop veterans Taeyang, Krystal Jung and Jackson Wang are now representing Givenchy, Pomellato and Louis Vuitton respectively.
Taeyang at the Givenchy fall show 2023.
Surprisingly, the list does not shy away from rookies either. NewJeans’ Hyein was named Louis Vuitton’s global ambassador late last year.
But last month, this piece of news came as a big shock to the K-pop industry.
Two members of global supergroup BTS, Jimin and Suga, are revealed to be amongst the newly-signed faces for Dior and Valentino respectively.
Jimin is officially the first member of BTS to become a brand ambassador for the group. But the group was the face of French fashion house Louis Vuitton in 2021, where they also made their runway debut.
Specifically for vocalist Jimin, there has been a history between BTS and Dior back in 2019 when the members donned custom pieces from the pre-autumn 2019 collection for their concert in Paris.
Similarly, this form of long-standing partnership between artists and the brands can be seen for K-pop girl group Blackpink and various brands.
As global ambassadors, four members wore stage outfits from the brands they are each signed to for their 2022 Paris concert: Jisoo in Dior, Jennie in Chanel, Rosé in Saint-Laurent and Lisa in Celine — a move that was well-received amongst fans.
Beyond live shows, K-pop artists have attended and made waves at events like fashion shows as well as red carpets of award shows and film festivals.
Last month, the 2023 Paris Fashion Week took place with invitations stretched out to many idols alongside other Korean celebrities to the front row of the fashion shows: Taeyang and G-Dragon of BIGBANG, Suga, J-hope and Jimin of BTS and Jisoo of BLACKPINK to name a few.
While luxury fashion shows are intimate invitation-only events, they still boast star-studded audiences which shows how prevalent the presence of K-pop is in fashion culture these days.
It’s undeniable that K-pop stars have been stirring up the fashion world. It also blurred the lines separating the western industry and Korean industry that were once clear — in turn becoming synonymous with each other.
Consequently, more opportunities may open up for other K-pop idols to set foot into the fashion spotlight as part of this new market trend. And it’s thanks to their soaring demand, appeal and potential to influence globally.
When the partnership is successful, it will be a win-win situation for both the brand and idols as they gain multiple perks, from positive exposure to fashion looks for the books.
