K-Pop stars are venturing into the fashion world as brand ambassadors

This year, a number of K-pop stars have made their way into the fashion world as international brand ambassadors, one after another.

Appointing K-pop stars as brand ambassadors is not something that has started recently. The tide gathered momentum around 2016, when BIGBANG’s G-Dragon was named Chanel ambassador.

In the so-called diversity movement, it has become a major trend to reverse the prevalence of white ambassadors in choosing the faces of fashion brands and instead use a non-white person, especially an Asian. It seems that South Korean pop stars are perfectly suited for this job, partly because of their fluent knowledge of English. Or perhaps the deciding factor was that all the stars who would become brand ambassadors already had millions of followers on their Instagram accounts.

I would like to commend the foresight of South Korean entertainment agencies who marketed their artists globally for years.

During the height of the COVID-19 crisis from 2020 to 2022, fashion weeks in Paris and Milan were largely held remotely without spectators. And this year, most shows are back to normal, with a surprising number of stars from South Korean boy bands and girl bands selected as ambassadors of high-end fashion brands.

Here are some examples of K-pop stars who became brand ambassadors in the first quarter of this year:

Taeyang (BIGBANG), Givenchy

Jackson Wang (GOT7), Louis Vuitton

Suga (BTS), Valentino

Jimin (BTS), Dior

Danielle (NewJeans), Burberry

Minji (NewJeans), Chanel

Yujin (IVE), Fendi

Jung Kook (BTS), Calvin Klein

Particularly notable is the appointment of stars from the so-called fourth-generation K-pop movement, such as IVE’s Yujin, who debuted in 2021. Even before becoming a Fendi ambassador, the act’s Wonyoung became a brand ambassador for Miu Miu. in 2021.

K-pop groups are generally divided into four generations: The first generation comes from the early years (1996-2004); the second generation (2005-2013) includes acts such as TVXQ!, BIGBANG, Girls’ Generation and KARA, and coincides with the time when the three major agencies – SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment and JYP Entertainment – ​​were making progress; the third generation (2013-2018), which saw the success of global stars such as BTS and Blackpink, who have made effective use of social media; and the fourth and current generation that started in 2019.

Just such a quick overview of the K-pop scene makes you amazed at its depth. In addition to the top three agencies, HYBE, which manages the number 1 act BTS, is unstoppable, so that it is now said that there are four major entertainment agencies in South Korea.

As luxury brands continually sent enthusiastic love calls to K-pop stars, some were even given nicknames related to brand names, such as Human Chanel (Blackpink’s Jennie) and Human Gucci (EXO’s Kai). Lisa from Blackpink, originally from Thailand, is sometimes referred to as Human Celine as the brand’s global ambassador. Bulgari has also appointed her as the brand’s global ambassador.

Japanese stars and actors are often not chosen as ambassadors of luxury fashion brands. Yet most of them are brand ambassadors exclusive to Japan, and many of them are actors, models or athletes, not J-pop stars.

While some of those Japanese ambassadors look at me as if they are overshadowed by the brand clothes they are made for, K-pop stars look very natural, dressed to the nines as brand ambassadors, which I think is great. The mutual love affair between K-pop stars and high-end fashion brands makes the stars look fashionable and sophisticated, so much so that it’s convincing that their popularity is global.

When Seoul Fashion Week started in 2000, I was invited to attend the opening event. My impression at the time was that the whole thing looked unbalanced and did not meet the standard. I thought it would take more than twenty years for them to reach the level of Japan. Looking at the global success of K-pop stars 23 years later, I think it won’t be long before world-class fashion designers emerge from South Korea.

Akira Miura