WEMBY MANIA: Louis Vuitton is beefing up the ranks of its brand ambassadors with another rising athlete: French basketball player Victor Wembanyama.
The No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, the player popularly known as “Wemby” has set a series of records in his first season with the San Antonio Spurs, making him a favorite to win the Rookie of the Year title.
“Striving for excellence and with a perpetual honing of craft, Victor joins Louis Vuitton on a journey of shared values and aligned ambitions. Like Louis Vuitton himself, the young athlete has blazed a trail, excelling in a career that is only just beginning,” the French luxury house said in a statement on Tuesday.
Touted as a generational prospect, the 7-foot-4 sensation showed up for the draft pick in New York City in a forest-green Vuitton suit. He also has a partnership with Nike, which has dubbed him “The Extraterrestrial.”
Victor Wembanyama at the 2023 NBA draft on June 22 in New York City.
Arturo Holmes/Getty Images
The 20-year-old has already amassed a large fan base, with 3.6 million followers on Instagram. The NBA announced last month that Wembanyama is No. 4 in jersey sales through the first half of the season, behind Stephen Curry, Jayson Tatum and LeBron James.
The athlete previously played for French professional basketball club Metropolitans 92 and has said he hopes to compete with the French national team at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Wembanyama is the latest Vuitton ambassador from the world of sport, joining the likes of tennis players Carlos Alcaraz and Naomi Osaka; skier Eileen Gu; swimmer Leon Marchand and fencer Enzo Lefort, among others.
The brand has also featured soccer stars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in recent ad campaigns, and is gearing up for a major presence at the Summer Olympic Games, sponsored by parent company LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.
Vuitton’s partnership with the NBA, which included a capsule collection of men’s apparel and accessories, ended in 2022 after three years.
