South Korean model and actress HoYeon Jung is lavishing in the attention Netflix’s spectacularly successful K-drama Squid Game has brought her, exactly as she should. On Oct. 6, Louis Vuitton shared that the star, who plays Kang Sae-byeok in the series, will be the brand’s newest Global House Ambassador for fashion, watches, and jewelry.
The luxury-brand ambassadorship is a massive achievement for Jung in the wake of her growing success, first as a competitor on Korea’s Next Top Model in 2013 and now as an actress and arguably Squid Game‘s most fascinating character. Within days of the series landing on Netflix, it became the first Korean drama in history to hit the No. 1 spot in the U.S., and Jung, in particular, became a social-media superstar, garnering a sudden influx of millions of followers. She is now the most followed Korean actress on the platform, making her an ideal fit for LV’s global campaign efforts.
This isn’t the 27-year-old’s first partnership with the brand: She first walked the runway in Louis Vuitton’s 2017 spring ready-to-wear collection, for which she sported red hair and a strapless leather dress. Nicolas Ghesquière, Louis Vuitton’s creative director since 2013, said of the partnership, “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.”
This content is imported from Instagram. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
Jung has said her Instagram presence in particular inspired her to try acting in the first place. As she told W Korea, “In a way, Instagram is a space where I edit and show what I want to show. But at some point, I thought, ‘Am I really this person?’ People like my shiny look, but to me, I’m a much different person than her…I relieved my loneliness with movies and books, and I had a strong desire to express what I felt through acting. So during the holiday season, I came to Korea and took acting classes.”
After finishing acting courses, she received her first-ever script for what turned out to be her first role: Squid Game. Now, after cinching an ambassadorship and one of the most talked-about roles of 2021, there’s little chance the spotlight on Jung will flicker out anytime soon.
Lauren Puckett-Pope
Associate Editor
Lauren Puckett-Pope is an associate editor at ELLE, where she covers news and culture.
This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io