Naomi Osaka sets out to inspire with a new Levi’s campaign

We’ve been seeing a lot of US Open tennis champ Naomi Osaka lately: the Japanese athlete has graced the January cover of Vogue, partnered with ADEAM for NY Fashion Week and both Louis Vuitton and TAG Heuer as a brand ambassador, released her own line of handbags via Strathberry, and has her own killer Nike line. Oh, did we mention she’s accomplished this all on top of training and preparing for the Australian Open, set to take place February 8^th? The woman knows how smash her goals like she smashes a Grand Slam. Now, she’s partnered with iconic jeans brand Levi’s for a new campaign aimed at sparking inspiration called, “The Beauty of Becoming.”

In the official campaign video, directed by Oge Egbuonu and featuring the likes of Willow and Jaden Smith, 13 Reasons Why star Brandon Flynn, actress and model Leyna Bloom, celebrity stylist Karla Welch, activist Dolores Huerta and disability rights advocate Haben Girma (among many others), Naomi talks about the value of being true to oneself in order to “become” your best self. 

“[It] means speaking your mind and speaking on the things that you value. I feel like everyone has their experiences that shape them into a person and no one can take that away from you,” she explains.

Speaking with People, Naomi expanded her thoughts on what a campaign like this one means to her. “It was important to share my story in case I can help or inspire anyone. My goal is really to raise awareness, so this campaign gave me that platform, which I'm very grateful for."

She said that she had “a lot of fun” filming on the “very chill” Levi’s set, before gushing about her love of the brand and revealing her plans to start her own one day. “I mean isn't everyone [a fan of Levi's]? It's so iconic and a heritage brand."

“Don't compare yourself to anyone because the path that you're on is yours and yours only," she continued. "You decide the outcome of your life." You know, like the outcome where you start the next mega streetwear brand? The athlete added, "I'd like to start my own brand one day, probably together with my sister, but for now I'm loving collab'ing with some great designers and learning the craft and the business." Naomi's 24-year-old sister Mari Osaka is also a tennis star in her own right.

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We actually got a sneak peak behind the Levi’s shoot a few weeks ago, when Naomi gave Vogue 24-hour access to a day in her life.

She said at the time, “I'm very happy with how it went. It was really pretty. And it's my first shoot with them.”

The campaign was purposefully released to coincide with Black History Month, and features some inspiring Black thinkers, creators, and innovators working today (Angie Beyince, Beyoncé's cousin and Vice President of Operations at Parkwood Entertainment; No Vacancy Inn's Tremaine Emory; activist Xiye Bastida; and co-founder of the Brown Berets, Carlos Montes). In the caption for the Levi’s IG post featuring Naomi, she is quoted as saying she wants to advocate for Black lives on and off the tennis court.

“During the entire quarantine process,” she says in the caption, “I feel like I had a lot of time to sit down and think, and more importantly reflect on the choices of my life, and what I want people to remember me by. I feel like I’ve been really hesitant and worried about what people think of me too often. Everything I’ve experienced in my life, I want people to understand that that shaped me.” 

Naomi may have a lot of brand partnerships and ambassadorships to manage right now and her own brand on the horizon, but she teased more coming in the short-term too.

“I'm working on a few more collaborations that will come out in 2021,” she hinted when speaking with People. “I can't say exactly what yet, but I'm super excited. Watch this space."

It’s easy to see why she’s the highest paid female athlete of all time. She’s is the embodiment of #goals.

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