Hugo Boss rebrands and with African TikToker Khaby Lame

AS part of its growth strategy, fashion company Hugo Boss has revealed a refreshed brand identity and simultaneously launched two star-studded global campaigns, one of which features Senegalese-born TikTok star Khaby Lame.

After almost 50 years, the group has introduced a new logo for its core brand Boss, combined with a 360-degree brand renewal that encompasses all customer contact points. The Hugo brand image has also had a new look since the last logo adjustment in the early 1990s. Both logos were redesigned to feature a more expressive graphic font, ‘for a more contemporary look and feel and a more memorable visual experience,’ the brand explained.

With the more modern brand identity, which is part of the company’s ‘Claim 5’ growth strategy, both Boss and Hugo are being aimed at a younger and more global target group. The entire collection design, store concepts and omnichannel brand experience will be aligned towards a more playful and casual aesthetic while remaining true to the brand promise of excellent clothing, according to the company.

‘The brand renewal and the launch of the high-calibre campaigns are the beginning of a new era for Boss and Hugo. We want to inspire new and younger target groups and turn them into fans of our brands. Both campaigns are therefore an important step towards our goal of further increasing brand relevance and becoming a global top 100 brand in the coming years,’ said Daniel Grieder, CEO of Hugo Boss AG.

The global campaign is being complemented by a variety of social-first content, behind-the-scenes, stories, short videos and a podcast series. It can be experienced worldwide, above all in social media and through large-format outdoor advertising in 35 major cities.

Khaby Lame partnership

Boss also announced a strategic partnership with Senegalese-born social media influencer Khaby Lame. This made its runway debut on Boss at an event at Milan Fashion Week, with 4 billion views in just four days, and Lame has now also been signed up as a brand ambassador of the fashion brand. The collaboration includes two co-designed capsule collections.

Lame has been active on social media since March 2020. He started there in the early days of the pandemic after losing his job at a northern Italian industrial factory in Chivasso, Turin. In his videos, he emphasises the simplicity of everyday life with his characteristic hand gesture. Lame has more than 66 million followers on Instagram and over 128 million on TikTok. This makes his TikTok account the second most followed worldwide.

The fashion company’s second campaign, dubbed #HowDoYouHUGO, features South Sudanese top model Adut Akech, rappers Big Matthew, Saint Jhn, and American dancer Maddie Ziegler. An actual couple in real life, this is the very first time Akech and Saint Jhn are featured together in a campaign.

source: africabriefing.org