Louis Vuitton is jumping into the “Squid Game.” The luxury retailer has announced a new marketing deal with one of the stars of the hot Netflix series—South Korean breakout star HoYeon Jung will serve as its new “global house ambassador” for fashion, watches and jewelry.
The brand released the news on social media.
“I immediately fell in love with HoYeon’s great talent and fantastic personality, and I am looking forward to starting this new chapter of the journey we started at Louis Vuitton a few years ago,” Nicolas Ghesquière, creative director at Louis Vuitton, said in a statement.
“Squid Game” debuted on Netflix on Sept. 17 and has since taken the world by storm. The gruesome thriller dramatizes the lengths low-income citizens take in hopes of winning 46.5 billion Korean won. The trending show is the subscription streaming service's first Korean drama in history to reach the top spot in Netflix’s popularity rankings and currently resides at No. 10.
Jung, 27, portrays a character who goes by “Sae-byeok,” better known as “player 67,” who is trying to make ends meet for herself and younger brother. Although Jung becomes a finalist on the game show, she eventually is eliminated. Since the show's debut, Jung's instagram account—which shows a wide array of her modeling work— has seen an influx in followers. As of today, the model has over 16 million followers.
While Squid Game is the first acting gig for the South Korean model, her collaboration with Louis Vuittion is not a first. According to Models.com, Jung walked on the global fashion brand’s spring ready-to-wear collection runway in 2017.
In 2013, Jung was runner-up on season four of the competitive reality show, “Korea’s Next Top Model,” a spin-off of America's hit series, “America’s Next Top Model.” Jung has since photographed and walked for well-known fashion brands such as Marc Jacobs, Chanel, Fendi, Adidas, and more. Jung has also graced the cover of Harper's Bazaar Korea ,Vogue Korea and Vogue Japan.
Jung’s stardom follows other Korean artists who have ridden pop culture fame to strike brand deals in recent years. That includes K-pop boy brand group BTS, whose deals include inclusion in McDonald’s celebrity-backed meals marketing campaign, “Famous Orders.” Such partnerships come as big brands try to be more inclusive in their marketing.
Louis Vuitton’s deal was announced the same week that Ghesquière presented the brand’s Spring-Summer 2022 Fashion Collection in Paris at the Louvre Museum.
