Professional Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka has recently struck a deal with Victoria Secret’s new initiative — the VS Collective.
Osaka was the first-ever Asian player to hold the top rank in singles tennis and has four Grand Slams to her name. She joins an illustrious catalogue of models in the VS Collective, which include the likes of Hailey Beiber, Paloma Essler, Priyanka Chopra, and athletes Megan Rapinoe and Eileen Gu.
In the recent past, Osaka has been a big advocate for talking about mental health and has shared her struggles of stardom through her Netflix documentary, in which she talks about her cultural roots and the pressure of being a rising leader.
“After learning and understanding about VS’s vision for the Collective, I was inspired to join these amazing women,” Naomi told WWD of her decision to join the Collective.
“I remember going into [Victoria’s Secret] stores when I was a kid and wondering why none of the women on the wall looked like me. Now, as a collective, we can inspire the next generation from all different backgrounds, cultures, and sizes. That represents such progress to me.”
About the VS Collective
In June 2021, Victoria’s Secret announced a new brand ambassador initiative, which started off with a group of seven women, not all of whom were models. The brand started this initiative due to the criticism it was receiving for lacking diversity and setting unrealistic beauty standards.
The VS Collective initiative came up as an ever-growing group of accomplished women, who shared the same passion for driving positive change amongst the women communities in the USA and all around the globe. Victoria’s Secret’s main motive of this campaign was to swap angel models.
The campaign was an extreme attempt at a brand turn-around — an effort to redefine “sexy”.
Naomi Osaka has been an inspiration to many women—especially Asian women—in the world and now looks to inspire women with her deal with the VS Collective through her courage, determination and honesty.
Osaka also made an Instagram post regarding her joining the VS Collective, and the whole world is excited to see her first appearance, which she will make on the VS Collective podcast with host Amanda de Caenet, where she’ll be discussing her career and hopes for the future.
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