Sometimes an internationally known star and a brand just, mix. Sometimes a face and a personality just fit into a brand. Sometimes.
This wasn’t just “Sometimes” for Tokidoki, as on Feburary 1st, the pop culture brand, meaning “sometimes” in Japanese, announced its partnership with International recording artist Jasmine Villegas.
Though only 18, Villegas, a Filipino-Mexican American teen R&B, pop and soul singer is no stranger to the business of branding and entertainment. Villegas has recently signed with Sony Music Entertainment, and was the opening act for the second leg of Justin Bieber’s My World Tour in 2010. Since releasing her much anticipated mix tape in September of 2011, Jasmine has amassed a huge following and is currently ranked the 8th most powerful artist, 9th most powerful woman on Twitter with 961,709 followers, and has accumulated 58 million Youtube views.
“I am so excited to be the new face of Tokidoki” said Villegas. “The style is so me! Simone’s designs and products are so cute, everywhere I go – girls come up and tell me how much they love Tokidoki!”
Beginning in January ‘12, the partnership will include in-store appearances and special events.
“We couldn’t be happier to partner with Jasmine,” said Tokidoki CEO Ivan Arnold. “She will represent Tokidoki apparel, accessories and beauty in a fresh and fun way that speaks directly to our consumer.”
“When I see someone like a Harry [Shum, Jr.], I get excited. I think about me as a kid — like, ‘oh my god, I want to be cool like that.’” — Jon M. Chu on Asian role models.
ISSUE: Spring 2011
DEPT: Personalities
STORY: Katrina Guevara
Jon M. Chu may be known for directing dance films, namely Step Up 2: The Streets and Step Up 3D, but don’t pigeonhole him just yet. The 31-year-old says he’s just a modern fairytale story- teller, whether it be through dance, superhero stories, or an old fashioned boy-meets-girl romance. He even considers his latest film, the 3D musical documentary, Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, a modern-day fairytale. “[It’s] about a kid from a small town who follows his dream, has Usher as a mentor, finds his way and is anointed by the king,” says Chu.
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How many of you cried at Justin Bieber’s Never Say Never? You ain’t gotta be ashamed. So did we. If you did, it’s all thanks to the talented director Jon Chu who directed the teen mega-star’s documentary and infused it with an extra dose of heart as opposed to cheese. The director has Bieber Fever and a veritable man crush on Glee‘s Harry Shum Jr. (don’t we all?). After this interview, we think we may have a crush on Jon. Featured in Audrey’s Spring 2011 issue, and we’ve got the extras here.
Jon Chu and Harry Shum Jr. attend the LXD after party at The Roosevelt Hotel on July 6, 2010 in Hollywood, California. (July 5, 2010 - Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images North America
Audrey Magazine: Tell us about a day in the life of Jon M. Chu.
Jon M. Chu: It’s The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers or Never Say Never or Step Up 3D DVD release — it’s all coming in at the same time. So yesterday we wake up at 6 in the morning and work on sound, music and sound effects. And at the same time we’re doing color timing. So I had my editors work on the pictures with color timing and the mix. In the afternoon we switched, and then I came back to the office because I had to do a Twitter conversation online to help promote the Step Up 3D DVD release, which came out yesterday. So we did that or a couple hours. Checked out visual effects. And then we’re meeting about a secret project, and then we had to do a Christmas party, with our white elephant craziness. And I had to recheck the movie last week to see if it’s good to preview. It depends on the day.
