In 2017, Jung Ho-yeon, current Korean femme fatale who plays the North Korean Kang Sae-byeok in the internationally acclaimed Netflix phenomenon Squid Game, was featured in a Louis Vuitton’s ready-to-wear campaign. The show’s success has also rubbed on its star cast, as it should, which resulted not only in Jung Ho-yeon gaining more than 13 million Instagram followers; but also sealed the deal to become a global ambassador for Louis Vuitton. In a matter of only three weeks, the 27-year-old became Korea’s most-followed actress on Instagram, escalating from 400,000 followers to 13 million.
According to Dailymail, the creative director of Louis Vuitton, Nicolas Ghesquiere, also revealed how the actress’ talent impressed him. ‘I immediately fell in love with HoYeon’s great talent and fantastic personality, and I am looking forward to starting this new chapter of the journey we started at Louis Vuitton a few years ago,’ he said. If September was for reeling in the show’s success, October, too, began with a bang for the young actress. On Oct. 6, Louis Vuitton shared that the blossoming star will be the brand’s newest Global House Ambassador for fashion, watches, and jewelry.
This sudden shift in her popularity indeed would have left Jung-Ho-yeon excited. She credits her Instagram presence to try acting in the first place. Jung-Ho-yeon told W Korea, “In a way, Instagram is a space where I edit and show what I want to show. But at some point, I thought, ‘Am I really this person?’ People like my shiny look, but to me, I’m a much different person than her…I relieved my loneliness with movies and books, and I had a strong desire to express what I felt through acting. So during the holiday season, I came to Korea and took acting classes.” Fans may not know that after completing her acting classes, the first-ever script he read was for her first role, Squid Game.
