Kendrick Lamar is officially a Chanel ambassador

The announcement of Kendrick Lamar as the new Chanel ambassador was not a surprise. The rapper, the first in history to win a Pulitzer Prize, has been collaborating with the maison since 2023: the artist's look during that summer's Couture Week, featuring a pearl necklace, tweed jacket, and visible logo, led many to believe that Chanel, traditionally a womenswear brand, was about to launch a menswear line – but that wasn’t the case. For the January Couture Week 2024, Chanel returned to collaborate with K-Dot on The Button, a brand short film that featured a soundtrack by Kendrick Lamar. Since their first partnership to today, the rapper’s figure has received praise and criticism, ending up in the spotlight first due to the beef with Drake, and then for his spectacular performance at the Super Bowl. Becoming a Chanel ambassador could mark a new chapter for Lamar, who has just concluded two fantastic years of his career, culminating last February with the win of five Grammys for Not Like Us (the most awarded hip hop song in the history of the award).

Even before appearing in the front row during Couture Week, Lamar got close to Chanel at the 2023 Met Gala. That year's exhibition was dedicated to Karl Lagerfeld, whom the rapper honored by wearing a quilted leather bomber jacket designed by former creative director Virginie Viard. It's worth noting that the rapper's collaboration with Chanel began during a moment of deep transition for the brand, which had just welcomed its new artistic director, Matthieu Blazy. Although Chanel has paid special attention to male talents for years, from ambassador G-Dragon to Timothée Chalamet, the face of Bleu de Chanel, it’s possible that the brand’s new creative director will further push male involvement in the brand’s identity. After all, at Bottega Veneta he made the maison genderless, with a strong focus on both design and key figures – from Jacob Elordi to A$AP Rocky.