BTS continue their reign as global superstars with two new major partnerships in the luxury fashion world.
On January 16, French luxury fashion house Dior announced their newest global brand ambassador: Jimin. Dior officially announced the partnership on social media, saying that this latest appointment solidifies Jimin’s relationship with the label after many years of collaboration. In the words of Dior, Jimin “exemplifies the timeless spirit and singularity of Dior.”
BTS has had a long standing relationship with Dior, dating back to 2019. The group’s Love Yourself: Speak Yourself world tour included stage costumes that were designed by Dior’s menswear designer Kim Jones about a year after he joined the brand. Jones has been a longtime fan of BTS, which makes this new partnership with Jimin unsurprising. “I love BTS because they are really great guys and also super into fashion,” Jones said of his partnership with the group in 2019. “They all have their personal taste and style and it works so well together.”
Big news for BTS continued to break after Jimin’s Dior partnership was announced when Italian luxury brand Valentino declared Suga as the newest member of menswear DI.VAs, the label’s group of global ambassadors which was launched in 2022. Creative director of Valentino, Pierpaolo Piccioli, spoke highly of Suga to WWD, sharing that he “perfectly embodies everything that DI.VA.s testimonials stand for: diversity, inclusivity, creativity and passion.” In speaking of his relationship with the brand and its principal designer, Suga shared that the label has been ” supportive of diversity,” which is something he also believes deeply in. He’s currently slated to be the leading face of the brand’s upcoming menswear essentials campaign.
News of these latest partnerships comes after the end of the group’s partnership with Louis Vuitton, a brand ambassadorship that was announced back in April 2021. The partnership included a number of iconic moments, including a special collection launched by the late Virgil Abloh that included a fashion film with the band directed by Korean filmmaker Jeon Go-woon, with each member wearing one outfit from a Fall/Winter 2021 collection spin-off. Abloh described the film as “a conversation between space, movement, and global connectivity,” which he believed was a vibe easily embodied by BTS. While the partnership with Louis Vuitton may have come to an end, the group’s members continue to be involved with the label as fans of the brand, as J-Hope was confirmed to be attending the Men’s Fall/Winter 2023 fashion show in Paris on January 19.
As many brands and luxury fashion houses forge links to South Korean stars across industries, if these new partnerships are any indication of what’s up next for the group as they enter a new era, it looks like the best is truly yet to come for BTS.
