By Joséphine Li

Last week, the 23-year-old Haitien-Japanese tennis player and three-time Grand Slam winner, Naomi Osaka, currently ranked third in the world, made an appearance as Louis Vuitton’s latest brand ambassador. The label announced the news that Osaka will appear in it’s Spring Summer 2021 campaign. 

Osaka wrote on her Twitter and Instagram accounts that she was honored to be Louis Vuitton’s newest brand ambassador.

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In a press release, Louis Vuitton described Osaka as “modern”, “independent”,  “multi-faceted” and “perfectly incarnating the Louis Vuitton woman.”

Louis Vuitton accompanied the announcement with campaign photos taken by artistic director, Nicolas Ghesquière, for his upcoming Spring Summer 2021 collection. In them, Osaka is seen wearing a stylish, brightly colored dress while holding a handbag marked with the brand’s distinctive monogram.

Ghesquière spoke highly of Osaka. He described her as an extraordinary young talent who represents her generation. “Naomi’s career and convictions are inspiring, I am in awe of her,” he wrote on Instagram, adding that he looks forward to working with her on new projects in the future.

During the US Open, Osaka was a strong supporter of the Black Lives Matter protests that broke out last summer. Her action has won her wide acclaim — In each of her 7 matches at the 2020 tournament, Osaka wore face masks displaying the name of a different victim of alleged police violence in the US. She hopes to use her influence to call attention to racial discrimination and police violence around the world.

Osaka has also used fashion to celebrate her Japanese and Haitian identities. At New York Fashion Week, she showed her first capsule collection, designed in collaboration with Japanese label ADEAM, which featured structural ruffles and draping that perfectly fused her Haitien identity element and contemporary Japanese design.