BTS star V is adding another major name to his growing fashion portfolio, this time as a global ambassador for sportswear brand Champion. The partnership gives V, born Kim Taehyung, a new platform to bring his distinctive style to a brand known for its athletic roots and enduring streetwear appeal. It also comes as BTS continues one of its biggest years yet, with the group’s fifth studio album, “Arirang,” debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in March and the Arirang World Tour selling out stadiums around the world.
The timing feels especially fitting for V, whose influence has long extended beyond music. He has previously represented luxury houses including Celine and Cartier, sat beside Anna Wintour at Celine’s Spring 2026 show in Paris, and brought custom Celine looks to the Arirang tour. Now, with Champion, V is stepping into a different corner of fashion, one that feels closer to the relaxed, everyday style that has become just as recognizable as his red-carpet appearances.
Why Taehyung Chose Champion Over Another Luxury Brands
Champion is not Celine. That is entirely the point. The American sportswear brand, founded in Rochester, New York, in 1919 and currently owned by Authentic Brands Group, built its identity on athletic basics, sweatshirts, hoodies, T-shirts, and the reverse weave construction that became synonymous with durable, unpretentious quality. It is the brand that outfitted collegiate athletes before streetwear made heritage American sportswear globally desirable. It is what V reaches for when he is not reaching for luxury.
In his GQ interview published alongside the campaign launch, V describes the partnership as a natural fit. His style off duty, he says, has always leaned toward exactly what Champion represents: comfortable, unfussy, built for real life rather than presentation. “My style is pretty instinctive,” he told GQ. The brand’s FW26 campaign captures that ease. The campaign images show V in Champion essentials without the performance required by a luxury fashion shoot, which is precisely the register the True Champion campaign is going for.
Stefani Fleurant, Executive Vice President of Marketing, Sport and Lifestyle at Authentic Brands Group, put it plainly in the campaign announcement: “V’s creative vision, global influence, and genuine connection with his audience make him a natural partner for Champion.”
The True Champion Campaign and Who Else Is In It
True Champion is Champion’s most ambitious global campaign to date, designed around creators, athletes, and artists who are actively redefining cultural boundaries through originality rather than convention. V joins a cast that includes Romeo Beckham, musical duo SOFI TUKKER, NBA athlete Kyle Kuzma, Mexican singer Danna Paola, ice hockey player Megan Keller, Olympic swimmer Bella Sims, and actor Jaalen Best. The range of the lineup is deliberate. Champion is not positioning itself as a fashion brand or a performance brand exclusively. It is positioning itself as a cultural brand that belongs across disciplines and demographics simultaneously.
The FW26 collection available through the campaign spans Champion’s signature athletic and lifestyle pieces, including the reverse-weave sweatshirts and hoodies the brand built its reputation on, alongside newer lifestyle-oriented silhouettes. The collection is available now through Champion and Target.com, giving it reach that a luxury brand partnership simply cannot match.
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V on Fashion, Analog Culture and the Arirang Tour
The GQ interview covers more than the campaign. V speaks about his relationship with fashion as something intuitive rather than studied, a sensibility that has developed through exposure and instinct rather than formal study or deliberate construction. He discusses analog culture and the particular appeal of things that require patience: vinyl records, film photography, and the physicality of objects that push back against the speed of contemporary life.
He also addresses the last Arirang tour costume change, the Celine custom lambskin jacket that became one of the most discussed stage looks of the year. The jacket was embroidered with military-style detailing, worn during a set that was itself a meditation on Korean heritage and global identity simultaneously. That V can go from a moment like that to a Champion campaign and have both feel completely coherent is perhaps the most accurate description of what makes him a compelling fashion figure. The instinct he describes is real. It runs in both directions at once.
The Arirang North American leg continues through early September. BTS plays Baltimore on August 10 and 11 at M&T Bank Stadium. The Champion True Champion FW26 campaign is live now at champion.com and target.com.
Featured image: Champion
