The fashion icon goes from impersonating Queen Bey to working for her as a model.

Back in the days when Japanese celebrity Naomi Watanabe was just starting to break out into the international scene, she earned the nickname “Japanese Beyoncé“, due to her iconic impersonations of the American superstar —

But while her roots in the entertainment industry came from being a comedienne, these days Watanabe is more well-known as a model and fashion icon. As well as her own fashion brand for plus-size women PUNYUS, she’s also worked with huge international fashion and beauty labels like Kate Spade and SK-II.

With her latest project, it seems Watanabe has come full circle, as her current modelling campaign is for none other than Ivy Park, the athletic leisure clothing line owned by none other than Beyoncé herself.

The collection is called Ivy Heart and includes a wide selection of dresses, jumpsuits, accessories, footwear and so on. The collection also comes in an inclusive range of sizes, going from XXXS to XXXXL.

The theme of the collection is self-love, with red being the primary colour featured. The concept of the collection is “bringing people together from all different backgrounds” through the colour red. While in Western cultures, red is the colour of love and sensuality, in Eastern cultures it tends to represent good fortune and happiness.

Naomi stars in a promotional video alongside Beyoncé, as well as international stars like Australian singer Troye Sivan, American TV host and model Tyson Beckford and Chinese supermodel Shu Pei Qin to name a few.

Naomi’s inclusion in the campaign was met with overwhelmingly positive praise from Japanese fans, many of whom were overjoyed that Watanabe finally got to ‘work with her hero’ —

“I’m so glad your dreams came true! I hope many more of your dreams come true in the future.”
“Congratulations!!”
“Naomi-chan, you look so beautiful!”

— and overseas fans were equally excited.

“Naomi looks sooo good!”
“This is exactly the right choice.”
“Love this dress and love the model too!!!”
“I have no idea who this lady is, but she is GIVINNNNGGGGGGG.”

The collection went on sale to the general public on February 10, so fashion fans should snap up their favourite threads before they sell out.

We’re excited to see what’s next for Naomi Watanabe, who just seems to keep going from strength to strength. She once said her goal was to play the lead role in an American comedy movie by the time she was 40, so now that she’s officially modelled for Beyoncé, perhaps that’s next on her bucket list.

Source: Adidas x Ivy Park
Top image: YouTube@Ivy Park
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