The Tamesis
Jacquemus has announced the appointment of its first brand ambassador in its more than 15-year history. But instead of brand friends like Dua Lipa, Kylie Jenner or Jennie, designer Simon Porte Jacquemus turned to a somewhat unexpected muse: his grandmother Liline Jacquemus.
The designer has been outspoken about the role his matriarch played in his life, his late mother Valérie, and he recently honored her memory by starring in an emotional campaign for actress Charlotte Le Bon. In the photo announcing her appointment as ambassador, Lilin is holding a Le Valérie bag named after her daughter. In a statement, the brand highlighted the designer’s emphasis on “family, memory and heritage.” “Rather than a traditional brand ambassador, Liline Jacquemus represents the soul of the brand and is a timeless reminder that Jacquemus is first and foremost an origin story.”
The move is both surprising and sweet, and feels contrary to celebrity-saturated culture, especially in the fashion world. As brands compete for Hollywood heavyweights and hot young talent, star power is a currency that goes a long way, and they curate an envoy of beautiful, young, relevant individuals who are said to represent the brand’s interests and values. While Jacquemus certainly doesn’t violate the value of celebrity (he’s invited the likes of Emily Ratajkowski, Gigi Hadid, and Kendall Jenner to his shows, and even invited Jennie to close out his fall 2024 show), he’s decentralized it for now.
While this is a humanistic choice—making the brand feel more relevant to reality—it’s also a shrewd business decision. Jacquemus knows that surprising brand ambassadors and campaign stars are also the ones who break the noise. While Pamela Anderson has had a booming career in recent years, shedding her previous persona in favor of a more authentic look, Jacquemus was one of the first to bring her back into the spotlight, having her wear a self-referential puffy hat in his 2022 holiday campaign.
Nor is he the only one who knows that an unexpected choice of faces can have lasting cultural resonance. In 2015, Phoebe Philo played 80-year-old Joan Didion in a Celine campaign, the author’s face dwarfed by a pair of oversized black sunglasses but still entirely recognizable. Bottega Veneta also went the beloved author route. In May 2025, Zadie Smith joined a carefully curated team of directors to front Louise Trotter’s first campaign. Arguably one of the most memorable advertising campaigns of the past decade is thanks to Jonathan Anderson, who cast 88-year-old Dame Maggie Smith in a Loewe ad, the late legendary actress wrapped in a colorful faux fur coat and holding a Puzzle bag.
A distinctive campaign star or ambassador can bring not only surprise and delight, but also a sense of reality. Not every customer (or aspiring customer) is a model or a hot young actor; people from all walks of life enjoy fashion and deserve to see themselves reflected in a brand’s image. While the likes of Philo and Trotter expanded on this idea by prioritizing those whose intelligence matched their brand values, Jacquemus took it to another level. By playing his own grandmother, he not only reminds us that there is no prescriptive definition of cool, but also that a little heart can go a long way.
