After BLACKPINK paved the way for idols to enter the world of ambassadors for luxury
fashion houses, it has become more frequent for Kpop stars to seal deals with designer
brands.
However, this also leads to the scenario where some celebrities are only titled but penniless
ambassadors as their company had used the back door rather than letting the artists
prove the legit compatibility between them and the brand, leading to the idols receiving
little to no exclusive treatment.
However, there are also idols that are so valuable to a brand that they are literally
indulged in privileges and also have their image elevated to the next level after being
taken under the brand’s wings.
Jang Wonyoung - Fred
Being 18 and having already bagged home nine ambassador contracts: MIU MIU, SK TELECOM,
EIDERM, KIRSH, HAPA KRISTIN, GEOSPHERES, SUECOMMA BONNIE, and FRED.
While for each brand, Jang Wonyoung has always received enviable treatments, netizens believe
nothing can top the way FRED, a high-end French jewelry and watch company, showers her with
privileges regardless of whether she was working directly with the brand or not.
What makes the string between Jang Wonyoung and FRED so special is how she’s the very
first South Korean to be the ambassador for the jewelry house and despite the extremely
short timespan since the day FRED announced Jang Wonyoung as their Global Ambassador,
which was August 19, 2022 to be exact, she has received treatments that are unprecedented.
The privileges FRED secured for only Jang Wonyoung were first seen by the way they immediately
arranged for her to attend a special exhibition in Paris after the announcement.
FRED was so considerate of Jang Wonyoung that rather than letting her self-prepare for the
transportation, accommodation and catering staff, the brand took everything into their
own hands, making sure Jang Wonyoung never had to lift her fingers for anything.
That’s a bit of an exaggeration, I know, but the special treatment Jang Wonyoung was
showered in during this trip was still not a joke.
Right after Jang Wonyoung landed, she was taken to a gorgeous hotel FRED specifically
prepared for her.
While the name of the hotel wasn’t revealed due to safety and commercial reasons, netizens
believed the room was a suit in a bloodily expensive hotel considering the interior layout.
There were also bouquets of flowers and a written letter exclusive to Jang Wonyoung,
making everyone question how Jang Wonyoung could lead such a flamboyant, princess-like
life at just the age of 18.
And guess what, at the time, she had just been on board with FRED for three months.
On the next day, Jang Wonyoung was also escorted around the city by a staff member of FRED
and later that night, she was again indulged in privileges as the brand especially sponsored
her with a beautiful diamond jewelry piece FRED’s Force 10 collection.
Out of the four pieces she wore that night, the bracelet and necklace were so exclusive
that their price wasn’t listed and for the ring as well as the earrings, the total value
summed up to about USD7,000.
The exclusive privilege FRED secured for only Jang Wonyoung was also seen through the way
they fully placed their trust in her, letting her wear a necklace whose value was around
$55,000 just to record a video for Vogue Korea.
Not long after that, Jang Wonyoung was also invited to a big event of FRED in South Korea
and looking at her shining in boujee jewelry from FRED, many said her image was indeed
elevated to the next level.
When Jang Wonyoung did the photoshoot for FRED, the brand also sponsored her with necklaces,
bracelets and rings with a total value amounting up to $25,000.
The brand even gave her a statement neck-wear piece of their PRETTY WOMAN collection and
its value alone was already $149,000.
To make sure Jang Wonyoung was the room’s attention shining their special jewelry, FRED
also secured her a spot on Marie Claire Digital and when this happened, Jang Wonyoung had
only with the luxury house for about two weeks.
Besides the special treatment material-wise, Jang Wonyoung also received a heart-warming
welcome from the Vice President/Artistic Director of FRED - Valerie Samuel.
At the event, Valerie Samuel not only happily greeted Jang Wonyoung with an air kiss but
also endearingly looked at her throughout their very first conversation.
A representative from Fred also specifically sent flattering compliments to Jang Wonyoung,
believing her immense charms would help FRED portray their spirit most wholesomely.
Jisoo - Dior
While all four members of BLACKPINK receive extra special treatment from the brands they
endorse, netizens believe Jisoo is still an outlier compared to the rest of the group
considering how Dior has been showering her with the most exclusive privileges.
Ever since becoming the Global Ambassador of DIOR, Jisoo has not only been secured a
special spot at all luxurious events related to DIOR but also established a strong bond
with many senior managers of the famous fashion house.
In fact, not only seniors but all staff members of DIOR are always there to have her back,
including buying a VVIP suit at the BLACKPINK concert when the girls performed in USA to
cheer her up.
While luxury brands are extremely selective with what they post, both DIOR and DIOR BEAUTY
decided to post and tag Jisoo in the stories about BLACKPINK’s concert on their Instagram.
Besides supporting Jisoo through small actions like coming to concerts, many senior managers
of DIOR also explicitly express their love toward her, which happens super rare in the
world of designer houses since they need to preserve a sense of mysteriousness to maintain
the brand values.
During her trip to attend DIOR show in 2021 Paris Fashion Week, CEO Pietro Beccari not
only greeted her in a normal way but even talked deeply about YG Entertainment, saying
had they ever fired Jisoo, he would definitely take her under DIOR’s wings.
He later emphasized the importance of Jisoo to the fashion house, saying the business
between Jisoo and DIOR was a “perfect marriage” where both parties thrive thanks to each other.
When the topic got trended among Cnetz, many said they were taken aback as to how DIOR’s
CEO could make such an offer and while Beccari said it in a half-joking manner, they could
see the implication of how he would wholeheartedly support Jisoo and hope to have a long-term
cooperation with her.
Besides always proactively strengthening the rapport with Jisoo, DIOR also makes sure Jisoo
only receives the most exclusive treatments from them.
For example, during one visit to DIOR in 2021, Jisoo was introduced in person to the famous
Lady Dior bag, a special item designed in 1995 and offered to Princess Lady Diana.
She was even allowed to feel the authentic texture of the bag without gloves on and as
netizens noticed, after Jisoo said the bag was so beautiful that she also wanted one,
DIOR quickly tailor-made her a similar bag since Princess Lady Diana’s bag was a not-for-sale
collector's piece.
Not only taking care of Jisoo like a baby in real life, DIOR also goes extra lengths
to pay attention to every single thing related to their lovely Global Ambassador online.
One time when posting about Jisoo on their official TikTok account, the brand jokingly
contested with her fans to make sure Jisoo was theirs and only theirs.
DIOR also ensured Jisoo a soft spot on the covers of all famous magazines and most recently,
she has been the very first Asian to have a solo cover on one of the Big Four covers:
Vogue France.
From South Korea to Mainland China, the number of iconic artists that have long been in the
industry and received noble awards is countless yet when DIOR wanted to have a face best representing
their spirit on Vogue France, they went for Jisoo.
This special event quickly garnered the attention of Meta as just a few minutes after Jisoo
posted the photo on her Instagram, Facebook and Instagram used their official accounts
to compliment Jisoo.
The Head of Editorial Content at Vogue France also reposted Jisoo’s cover on her personal
Instagram and soon enough, Editorial Director of British Vogue, Edward Enniful, also liked
the post.
This made many people forecast that Jisoo would soon make it to the next cover of The
Big Four magazines, turning her into the very first Asian to achieve such a triumph.
Besides having DIOR’s support in being featured on special covers, Jisoo has even received
a whole tailor-made wardrobe from DIOR.
Even on occasions that she didn’t explicitly promote for the famous fashion house like
BLACKPINK concerts and comeback press premiers, DIOR still takes care of Jisoo’s image and
makes sure she always appears at her finest.
Lami - SM Entertainment
More often than not, once a trainee leaves a company, especially one of the Big 3, to
either pursue their own dream or simply to take a break, they will have a one-way ticket
out.
However, Lami has recently become the very first exception in Kpop history to not only
leave and rejoin SM Entertainment but also receive a vast range of privileges that no
trainees have ever received before.
While SM Entertainment has their own scouting staff to recruit potential faces for the company,
Lami was specifically chosen by the former CEO Lee Soo Man and probably for seeing her
great potential, she was even introduced under SM Rookies along with Irene, Seulgi, Taeyong,
Jaehyun, and Jeno, all of whom are top famous members and have top resources to promote
individually in their acts.
What’s even more mind-blowing was that Lami was only 10 years old at the time and while
all other trainees only had their teaser photos posted, Lami was given the privilege to record
an introduction video along with SNSD’s Tiffany.
Not long after that, SM Entertainment also let Lami join the famous show The Mickey Mouse
Club of Disney where Super Junior’s Leeteuk was the host.
Just one year after training under the agency, Lami was allowed to appear with other senior
trainees and famous artists of SM Entertainment at SM Town Live World Tour IV and considering
how big entertainment companies would never reveal their trainees’ identity unless they
were fairly sure about letting those trainees debut, Lami was believed to soon be an official
piece of SM’ family at just the age of eleven.
In the following years, SM Entertainment granted her various opportunities to enter the industry,
bringing her commercial contracts in modeling, acting, game shows and acting: AM 11:00, Montage,
Twinkle Twinkle, Five Finger and Red Velvet’s debut MV Happiness.
Also for this, it was also a big shock that Lami decided to leave the company around October
2022 and rumor had it that her departure was the aftermath of extreme depression with both
the company and the entertainment industry.
The last straw leading to her leaving was also said to be the exclusion from aespa’s
debut line-up and soon after the speculation circulated the Internet, Lami opened a personal
Instagram account, disappeared from SM’s business reports, and SM Rookies’ profiles.
However, just two months after that, Kim Sung Kyung, Lami’s real name, was spotted in
SM’s 3rd quarter report.
Kwon Oh Beom – The Principle Manager of actors under SM Entertainment, is also seen
following Lami on Instagram and Lami’s profile on Naver listed SM Entertainment as her agency,
raising suspicions that she has come back to the company.
Because SM Entertainment is one of the most famous idol cradles where countless talented
people come to audition daily, the fact that they let Lami back rather than picking from
the endless pools of candidates also spoke a lot about a special soft spot saved for
only Lami.
Which factors do you think these celebrities have that make them such a gem deserving such
exclusive privileges?