How Karol G managed to become a fashion icon while establishing himself as a Latin music star

Editor’s note: This article was originally published by The Business of Fashioneditorial partner of CNN Style.

(CNN) — In the advertising campaign of the most recent collection of “Paula’s Ibiza” by Loewe, the singer Karol G is seen emerging from the sea in a white dress, the waves are reflected in her sunglasses that highlight her (then) fiery red hair as she looks at the horizon. The image, captured on Colombia’s Caribbean coast, has a mythical quality that somehow reveals the thoughtful composer behind the performer. Jonathan Anderson, creative director of Loewe, wanted to shoot the campaign in the singer’s native country to, he says, capture “the whole Karol G vibe.”

It’s a vibe that has spread like wildfire over the last year. In February, Karol’s fourth studio album, “Mañana Sera Bonito,” became the first Spanish-language album by a woman to debut at No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 chart. Last month, she won an MTV Video Music Award for her collaboration with Shakira on her song “TQG.” Today, Karol G is the female artist with the most songs in Spanish on the Billboard Hot 100.

The new queen of reggaeton—a dance-ready musical style dominating the radio with its mix of pop-infused reggae, rap and dembow rhythms—Karol G is a household name across much of Latin America. But some of her biggest hits, including “Provenza” and “Tusa,” a duet with Nicki Minaj, have helped the genre strike a chord with audiences around the world, cementing her newfound status as a pop sensation. world.

• Karol G receives an award for her humanitarian work in favor of women at the Billboard Latin Music Awards 2023

And by making her way through the notoriously complicated music industry, Karol has managed to cultivate an image and sphere of influence that has been noticed by forward-thinking brands in an equally complicated industry: fashion.

“Karol G is one of the biggest stars in contemporary Latin music and her bold, eye-catching style is an important part of her personality,” said Charlie Smith, director of marketing and communications at Loewe, which was the first luxury brand to choose her. as a campaign model. “She has a large following around the world thanks to the way she brings her own touch to reggaeton and has brought the style of music to new audiences around the world.”

Loewe’s decision to sign the reggaeton star seems to have paid off. On Instagram, the response to Karol’s post about the campaign generated more than three million likes and $1.2 million in media impact value (MIV) for the brand, according to Launchmetrics, a data analysis company.

The campaign, which was revealed in April, couldn’t have come at a better time for the LVMH-owned brand: Karol G may have been relatively unknown to the broader fashion establishment, but her music career was about to accelerate, driven by an increasingly passionate and devoted fan base.

After a televised appearance in June for the “Today Show” outside New York City’s Rockefeller Center, the show’s producers revealed that the crowd for Karol’s appearance swelled to a size larger than any other in living memory, including those who attended the historic performance of Latin music legend Ricky Martin in 1999. Two months later, Billboard announced that Karol made history as the woman with the most entries on its Hot Latin Songs chart, a ranking that has existed for more than three decades. No wonder “Rolling Stone” magazine gave her its September cover.

But if, as the magazine’s slogan suggests, Karol now feels “free and fearless” in a music industry that has not always welcomed her, her feelings for the fashion industry remain to be established.

The creation of a muse

“I’ve never been ‘fashion’s best friend,’ so to speak,” Karol confesses, expressing both surprise and joy that her big opportunity in fashion goes hand in hand with a highly conceptual designer like Anderson and a brand from luxury on the Loewe scale. “Fashion can be uncomfortable. My style just goes with the flow.”

The combination is not entirely obvious. In recent years, Loewe has been rejuvenated by Anderson’s surreal, artisanal approach, boosting annual sales to a staggering €2 billion ($2.1 billion), according to market sources. But it remains one of Spain’s most iconic traditional brands, taking advantage of its elite status and quietly opulent aesthetic since 1846. Karol G’s image is much more exuberant and accessible.

“Before I felt that no one saw me as a figure related to fashion because I never bought clothes from brands and when we approached them it didn’t work,” recalls Karol, explaining that normally she had to buy in retail stores, instead of brands. offered to lend him pieces from the last season, a publicity benefit that other musicians of his caliber easily enjoy. “It took me a long time to experience that.”

But if Karol still sees herself as a outsider of fashion, her power as an influencer has become clear to fashion insiders. A ranking of the top 100 Instagram accounts compiled by SocialBook, a company that connects creators and brands through influencer marketing, shows that Karol G’s account’s engagement rates are significantly higher than some of her contemporaries.

With 66 million followers on the platform, Karol G ranks 70th in terms of number of followers, but 6th in terms of engagement rates. As of early October, its 60-day engagement rate was higher than that of K-pop band BTS — whose members are ambassadors for numerous luxury brands — and Hollywood star Zendaya.

To put this in context, Kim Kardashian has more than five times as many followers as Karol G, but Karol’s 5.8 percent engagement rate is 0.4 percent higher than Kardashian’s over the same period.

“A good or impressive engagement rate is something close to or above 5 percent,” said Julián Martínez, creative director of SocialBook.

“A high engagement rate means you are doing something right with your audience and engaging their emotions in one way or another,” Martínez added. “There are many factors and variables present (so) it is difficult to isolate the exact cause. However, whatever (Karol G) does with his posts and his content, he is doing a great job.”

Celebrity marketing can pay dividends in brand affinity and awareness, but it can also directly boost sales of specific items when fans are forced to imitate their idol’s style. “Karol G Closet” is just one of many social media accounts that closely follows Karol’s wardrobe like a shopping guide, with product photos and prices of the Balenciaga shoes, Miaou corsets and Miu Miu skirts that she wears. have seen using.

• Karol G attacks GQ México magazine for edits on her cover photo: “My face doesn’t look like that”

At Coachella last year, for example, where she wore a Roberto Cavalli costume to sing a medley of classics by Latin music artists, a wave of color emerged from the crowd as throngs of fans paid homage to “blue era” hair. ” of the singer wearing wigs of the same color. “That was a surprise,” says Karol.

Brands almost never release numbers to show that a campaign model generated a good return on investment, and they rarely use that kind of language when commenting. Loewe is no different. But the brand’s enthusiasm for its Karol G campaign, half a year after its launch, is revealing. “The collaboration was a huge success,” said Loewe’s Smith, citing the 45 million impressions his campaign post generated on social media and the commercial success of the sunglasses he wore in the campaign.

Unsurprisingly, the partnership with Loewe attracted the attention of other brands. “Working with Loewe opened the door to everything that is happening now. After that, we received invitations from many other designers, fashion magazines and shows,” says the singer.

In June, Jacquemus invited Karol to sit front row at the French brand’s show at the Palace of Versailles wearing an off-the-shoulder dress. “That made a lot of noise,” he recalled. At the “Barbie” premiere in Los Angeles (the film’s soundtrack includes her song “Watati”) a month later, Emilio Pucci dressed her in a halter-neck crop top and long skirt for the pink carpet. .

“I never thought that being true to who I am — not paying attention to what is or isn’t trendy and not having to change who I am — would give me that platform,” Karol said, noting that most of her recent encounters with the industry Fashion designers have helped her stay true to her style, but they do it in a way that makes it look “higher.”

Her style has definitely undergone an evolution over the past seven years she’s been in the public eye. Urban wardrobe staples like joggers, sneakers and caps still make an occasional appearance, but are now paired with embellished tops, lingerie-inspired clothing or sultry dresses. Vetements and Rick Owens are among the brands piquing her interest these days, but she still doesn’t lock herself into any style that relies on specific brands. “I want to keep experimenting,” he said.

That does not mean that you are not aware of the need to establish your image with some consistency. To that end, she has made colorful hair a trademark, often alternating between pastel shades and gemstone-like colors. She also keeps returning to some themed styles, a tactic that makes it clear that she’s the one wearing the brand, not the brand.

A notice to the fashion industry

Karol has described her characteristic appearance as a “mermaid (which is) a tomboy from the heart.” That duality becomes relevant in the outfits she wore for “Tusa,” for example. The video for that song framed her in an ethereal floor-length dress alongside mythical creatures like a Pegasus; in her performance of the song in At the Latin Grammys, Karol dominated the stage in jewel-adorned motorcycle pants.

But no matter which direction the winds of fashion blow, Karol assures, some items are sacred, like hoop earrings, which she does not plan to abandon, as they symbolize her roots in street culture. urban of Colombia. “I won’t stop doing something that really represents me,” she said. “I’m very careful with that.”

Perhaps it’s due to the fact that she’s still in awe of her own successes, but Karol is prone to being a little effusive, albeit in a tone that sounds more humble than sycophantic. It makes sense that she is “enormously grateful” to Anderson for the Loewe campaign. Being associated with the elite, high-concept luxury brand could help differentiate her from other female reggaeton stars in the eyes of the fashion industry.

Why then did haute couture take so long to notice it?

It is true that her recent rise has been more pronounced than most, but, by 2022, Karol G had already secured her third consecutive year as the Latin American woman with the most streams worldwide on Spotify. She has been hugely well-known in the region — where most of the big luxury brands have stores in at least a few major markets — for years. And beyond the United States and Spain, where she has long been known, her music has been played by millions in countries such as France, Italy, Germany and Canada, according to Maykol Sánchez, Spotify’s director of artists and record partnerships for Latin American markets. and Americans.

One reason for the delay in recognition is that, until the 2020s, big brands focused primarily on male musicians who traditionally dominated the reggaeton genre. Daddy Yankee’s partnership with Reebok and Don Omar’s with Umbro set an early precedent. When Karol G came onto the scene in a big way, the giants of fashion, luxury and sportswear were still closing in on his male counterparts. In recent years, Maluma has partnered with Dolce & Gabbana and Balmain, J Balvin with Nike and Guess, Bad Bunny with Jacquemus and Adidas, and Nicky Jam with Hublot.

Ivy Queen, often credited as the queen and pioneer of reggaeton, was a notable exception in those male-dominated early years of the genre, capturing attention with her female empowerment anthems. But it wasn’t until after the wave of men’s associations that women began to land global fashion and beauty contracts. Pioneers in the Latin music scene in general, such as Jennifer López and Shakira—who last year fronted a Christmas campaign for Burberry—had laid the groundwork for themselves.

Anitta, the Brazilian Carioca funk pop star who dabbles in reggaeton in both Portuguese and Spanish, has starred in campaigns for Levi’s and Dolce & Gabbana, among others. Barcelona native Rosalía, whose musical versatility has seen some of her hits top reggaeton charts, became the face of Acne Studios last year, while genre-defying Mexican-American artist Becky G, who recorded the hit “Mamiii” with Karol, has collaborated with Cosita Bonita. Karol herself landed a couple of collaborations with brands before Loewe, notably Kappa and Crocs. But even these pioneers arrived a little late to the reggaeton party.

Reggaeton’s origins can be traced back to Panama in the 1980s as a form of Spanish-language reggae, where the genre was musically inspired by Jamaica before evolving in Puerto Rico. It flourished in the 1990s and early 2000s, when it mixed with American hip-hop, Dominican dembow, and other Caribbean musical genres rooted in the African diaspora. Many of its early artists were inspired by the style of American rappers of the time, albeit with a distinctive touch of Latin streetwear.

In the 2010s, reggaeton found resonance in Karol G’s hometown of Medellín, Colombia, and the city soon became a creative capital for the scene. In 2017, his debut album, “Unstoppable,” co-produced with his longtime friend and collaborator Ovy, emerged as a sensation. One song, “Now Me Llama,” which featured then-promising Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny, catapulted her to stardom in Latin America and in communities in the United States, where nearly one in five people living in the United States is of Latin descent, according to the Pew Research Center.

As some artists distanced themselves from the heavier origins of rap and the industrial noises of reggaeton, a more commercial and melodic sound began to gain traction in cities like Miami, Mexico City, and even as far away as Buenos Aires. and Santiago de Chile, where local musicians put their own touch on it. The genre that was once underground had become mainstream… and so had Karol G.

“Karol was booming after the pandemic hit. His music was played on all the radio stations here in Mexico. She had already taken off in our world, but (we knew) that she was about to explode on a global level… so we wanted her,” says Karla Martínez, head of content at Vogue Mexico and Latin America, who brought Karol to the cover of the magazine early last year.

Today, reggaeton’s reach goes far beyond its strongholds in Latin America, North America and Europe. Not only have record labels in Dubai opened Latin music divisions for reggaeton artists to reach Middle Eastern markets, but nightclubs in Asian cities like Singapore now promote reggaeton dance nights; and musical hybrids that fuse local genres with reggaeton can be heard on radio stations around the world, even in African cities like Nairobi.

But the increasingly global appeal of artists like Karol G is not just a product of reggaeton. It is due to the rise of music in Spanish in general. According to Spotify data, Latin music streams have increased nearly 170 percent worldwide over the past five years, and the category’s presence in the Spotify Global Top 50 has seen a notable 90 percent growth. .

“There has been an explosion of Latin music around the world, led by reggaeton, but of all different genres,” said Colombian-born Leila Cobo, content director for Billboard Latin and Spanish, adding that it has been boosted by streaming music services, which are shaping a market where “there are not as many gatekeepers as before.”

Uplifting culture in style and song

“The music itself is now more professional and better produced as well,” Cobo added. “The audience reacts to the beat, even if they don’t speak the language. “People aren’t so obsessed with it anymore.”

In fact, it is the change in attitudes towards language that seems to have helped Karol G land the deal with Loewe. “Jonathan (Anderson) told me that, although he didn’t understand what my lyrics were saying, the music had a quality that just made him feel good,” Karol said.

Born Carolina Giraldo Navarro, Karol auditioned for Colombia’s “X Factor” when she was 14, but didn’t get very far. During her teenage years, she sang at quinceanera parties alongside J Balvin before either of them made it big. She spent years performing on stages before signing with a Puerto Rican label that produced few hits. At a low point, she moved to New York and all but abandoned her aspirations of establishing a music career.

“Karol has worked hard,” Cobo said, noting that now, at 32, she is mature and has built her success from the ground up. “She has remained steadfast throughout her career, speaking openly about her struggles. I think women see her and say, ‘There’s a superstar who’s like me.'”

“In addition, Karol is no longer just a reggaeton artist. She has become a pop artist,” she added.

Being an ambassador of Latin American music and culture is not without pressure. Although Karol has called herself a “bichota” (a gender riff on Puerto Rican slang for a “big shot,” which she reinterpreted as a daring and empowered “berraca” (tough) woman in her song of the same title), she confesses their insecurities easily.

“It scares me to think that tomorrow I could make a mistake and everything could turn against me,” he said, before quickly adding, “but I can’t let that dominate my vision for the future.”

Karol explained that since the album “Mañana Sera Bonito” he has been more transparent about his life, including intimate topics such as sexuality and family.

“I think a big part of the connection I have with my audience has been by being real, by showing my life without filters,” he said. “I’ve been open and I’ve been exposed. I’m not trying to hide in any way. “I’m looking for ways to, I don’t know, internalize everything and say, ‘This is my moment, this is who I am, look at me.'”

It’s true that Karol admits to the kinds of things that others in her position might try to hide, even comparatively trivial episodes, like how daunting she finds it to navigate the glamorous events of the fashion industry. “I feel a little out of my comfort zone there. When I see celebrities and artists (in those situations),” she explained. “There is a certain etiquette. “I don’t know how to stand, what to say, how to talk, but at the end of the day I try to relax and enjoy the experience.”

But it is precisely this raw, unpretentious charm that seems to make her attractive to both her fans and collaborators.

“She is an artist who has become a role model for millions and has not been afraid to show her vulnerabilities through her music,” said Nina García, editor in chief of the US edition of Elle, explaining that the decision of Presenting her on the cover of the magazine was a “no brainer.”

“His message of a better day and a beautiful tomorrow has become crucial in our fragmented and often tense world,” García observed. “And their success speaks for itself.”

The commercial result of the magazine “exceeded expectations,” García said. “We thought this cover would be popular, but its reach blew us away, especially on social media. “Their fans showed their support (and) it was pretty amazing.”

As her profile grows, Karol is increasingly aware that her ability to attract top-tier fashion partners from Europe and the United States is what helps her have the platform to support Latin American designers.

“Colombia has world-renowned designers and I have had the opportunity to see firsthand the incredible talent at Colombiamoda,” Karol said about Colombia Fashion Week. “But what might surprise you is that a lot of the things we use are from small independent designers who don’t have much recognition,” Karol said.

“For example, when I’m on stage, I work with the same people from Medellín who make my shoes (and) it has been lovely to present the work of these Colombian artisans to stylists like Brett Alan Nelson and connect them,” Karol assured. “But I’ve been thinking about it lately and I think I can (do more) to help take their work to the next level.”

Their access to Colombia’s dynamic textile and apparel industry leads to another question: what about future business opportunities beyond alliance-based partnerships? Do you have any ambitions to emulate other pop stars turned fashion entrepreneurs by co-designing a collection or launching your own brand?

“I’m actually exploring how to expand my brand now. I want to make sure that even if I retire from music one day, my name is still relevant and I live in other areas,” she responded.

“But any brand associated with Karol G has to offer something that I can offer my people and that is genuinely good, positive and useful.” useful,” he said. “Then I’ll be looking forward to sharing it with everyone.”

This article was originally published by The Business of Fashionsocio editorial de CNN Style.