CELINE Korea sees sales growth of 513.2% from the previous year, reportedly following BTS Kim Taehyung's global brand ambassadorship

Kim Taehyung, aka V of BTS, became the global ambassador for the French luxury fashion house CELINE in March 2023. Before the official announcement by the luxury brand, the BTS member attended Hedi Slimane's Spring 2023 show in June 2022 with BLACKPINK's Lisa and South Korean actor-singer Park Bo-gum.

The K-pop sensation was later featured on Elle Korea's April 2023 cover, where it was mentioned that he is the newest CELINE boy. The artist debuted his collaboration with the fashion label by gracing three separate magazine covers for ELLE, Arena, and POP, flaunting CELINE outfits by Hedi Slimane.

Meanwhile, on April 8, 2024, Hankyung Business reported that the Financial Supervisory Service's Electronic Disclosure System published that sales for CELINE Korea in 2023 increased by 513.2% to 307.2 billion won (over $226.8 million) from 50.1 billion won (over $36.9 million). Furthermore, operating profit increased to 17 billion won, or nearly seven times, from 2.5 billion won the year before, a 591.1% rise.

---

BTS Taehyung's appointment as CELINE's new global ambassador enabled it to enter the list of Brand Finance

By serving as a brand ambassador and participating in events like the ELLE Korea cover photo shoot, the Cannes dinner, the Seoul pop-up store, and other social media postings, Taehyung has helped CELINE reach a new height in growth and exposure in 2023.

The Top 50 Most Valuable Luxury & Premium Brands study, published annually by Brand Finance highlights CELINE's development in 2023. Brand Finance is a renowned brand valuation and strategy consulting company in the UK. The brand rose six points to take the position at number 23 in 2023 from number 29 in 2022.

Notably, CELINE has made it into Brand Finance's Top 25 for the first time, even though they have been collaborating with other K-pop stars for almost two years. Between 2022 and 2023, Brand Finance examined variations in brand value. CELINE was found to have an expansion rate of 51% over the previous year, placing it second only to Lamborghini.

CELINE ranks #23 on the Top 50 Most Valuable Luxury & Premium Brands list, as reported by Brand Finance. (Image via website/Brand Finance)

As per Morgan Stanley—the biggest investment bank in the United States—South Korea is the world's top consumer of luxury goods, with purchases totaling $16.8 billion (about 21 trillion won) as of 2022.

CELINE's performance improved dramatically in a year as the operational profit climbed over seven times. Sales in 2022 were around 50.1 billion won, although they increased more than six times the previous year. There were 14.6 billion won or $10.7 million in net profit in 2023.

Furthermore, the influencer marketing platform Lefty provided quantifiable data on the impact of Taehyung's affiliation with CELINE. The results of their survey, which concentrated on Taehyung's Instagram activity between March 1, 2023, and December 31, 2023, were startling.

By sharing 31 stories and posts on Instagram between March 1, 2023, and December 31, 2023, Taehyung has already brought in $274 million in Earned Media Value (EMV) for CELINE.

---

BTS' Taehyung contributed to CELINE's increased sales and popularity in 2023

Kim Taehyung attained an interaction rate of 20.6% on his Instagram posts for CELINE, which is higher than even that of users with higher followers. The Love Me Again singer-songwriter secured the top place with an astounding Earned Media Value (EMV) of $274 million on Instagram, even though his account is less than three years old and had 62.7 million followers back then.

The information was made public on December 7, 2023, through the "2023: A Year in Data" report published by the influencer marketing platform Lefty. The platform provided a thorough study of the year's fashion trends and named Taehyung the No.1 Male Influencer of 2023.

Considering his inconsistent Instagram participation, the Layover singer-songwriter disproved the myth that consistent material is essential to sustaining interest in 2023 with 38 Instagram posts and a small number of articles.

Four prestigious fashion magazines—ELLE Korea, W Korea, Arena HOMME+ Korea, and POP Magazine—featured the idol on their covers, donning CELINE, demonstrating his reach outside the internet sphere.

Every picture session demonstrated Kim Taehyung's adaptable modeling abilities, showcasing different sides of him in leather jackets and trousers and kohl eyes, drawing in viewers with eye-catching imagery and an acceptance of many ideas and aesthetics.

Additionally, photographs of Taehyung by Hedi Slimane, CELINE's creative director, were plastered across Shanghai's premium shopping malls in December 2023. This emphasized the BTS member's global influence and importance as the brand's muse.

---

Kim Taehyung enlisted in the South Korean military on December 11, 2023, and was deployed at the Special Duty Team (SDT) unit of the 2nd Military Corps on January 18, 2024. He is set to return in June 2025 after completing his 18 months of mandatory service. Recently, the musician digitally released his new single FRI(END)S on March 15, 2024.