LOEWE names actor Masaki Okada its newest brand ambassador

LOEWE has named the actor Masaki Okada its newest brand ambassador in Japan, the Spanish maison's Japan arm — part of LVMH Fashion Group Japan — announced on 17 August, formalising a relationship that dates back to a 2023 campaign.

Okada, born in Tokyo in 1989, has acted since his 2006 debut and is best known internationally for 2021's "Drive My Car," which won the screenplay prize at Cannes and went on to four Academy Award nominations. His recent credits include 2024's "Last Mile," for which he won the Japan Academy Prize for best supporting actor, the NHK series "Tora ni Tsubasa," and Disney+ productions, according to LOEWE.

The tie dates to 2023, when Okada fronted a campaign for LOEWE's Puzzle bag in Japan. LOEWE said he attended creative directors Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez's show at Château de Vincennes in Paris this past March — their debut menswear collection since taking over the house — and that the visit helped prompt the formal appointment. Okada said in the release that he felt honoured to represent a brand he already wears personally, and that seeing the designers' "unexpectedness" and playful sensibility in Paris left a strong impression on him. McCollough and Hernandez said, in a joint comment, that Okada has spent his career challenging convention and that his respect for craftsmanship suits the house.

The appointment gives McCollough and Hernandez a domestic face in Japan as they settle into LOEWE's creative direction — a market where LVMH's maisons increasingly lean on homegrown film and television talent, rather than only global celebrity, to hold attention through a crowded luxury calendar. Whether Okada's remit extends beyond campaign imagery to runway shows or store events is not yet stated.