Prada has named K-pop boyband Enhypen as its newest brand ambassador.
In recent months, the seven members of the group — Heeseung, Jay, Jake, Sunghoon, Sunoo, Jungwon, and Ni-ki — have openly shown their support for Prada, from sporting its latest collection to mentioning the Italian brand to their 13 million followers on Instagram. “The synergy Prada and Enhypen will create is something we’re very excited to witness and greatly look forward to,” Enhypen shared in a statement with WWD.
Earlier this year, the K-pop group made quite a splash seated along the front rows of the Prada Fall Winter 2023 show. While they were the sole K-pop attendees at the event according to press reports at the time, the boys of Enhypen are now among a growing handful of K-pop artists recruited by luxury brands like Prada that are seeking to woo their millions of global fans.
In recent years, thanks to the mainstream appeal of breakout groups such as BTS and Blackpink, luxury brands have increasingly capitalized on the global pop cultural relevance of K-pop.
In January this year, boy group NCT’s Jaehyun became the first Korean ambassador for Prada — fronting its 2023 Spring Summer campaign alongside Hunter Schafer, Vincent Cassel and other celebrities.
Meanwhile, brands like Chanel have turned to stars like G-Dragon and Jennie Kim of Blackpink for their elevated street style.
Chinese K-pop artists have notably and frequently been recruited for international campaigns and ambassadorships as well. Recently, Chinese K-pop artist Victoria Song, formerly of girl group f(x), attended the Louis Vuitton Cruise 2024 show in Italy as a house ambassador.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqZikMGHOGA
And earlier this year, shortly after the Louis Vuitton Fall 2023 menswear show, GOT7 member Jackson Wang was named the French fashion house’s newest brand ambassador. With 32.4 million Instagram followers and 30.79 million followers across Chinese platform Weibo, Wang harnesses a multicultural talent and appeal that translates into lucrative brand opportunities to tap into fan bases across languages, cultures and continents.
With celebrities like Blackpink's Jisoo and Jennie earning nicknames such as "human Dior" and "human Chanel," these marketing collaboration trends are sure to continue as the global appeal of K-pop expands.