Lucky Brand Deepens Music Roots With Charlie Puth as Ambassador

Lucky Brand has a new face, and it belongs to Charlie Puth.

The denim and lifestyle company named the Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter, and producer as its newest brand ambassador.

Lucky Brand credits a music connection that it says has run through the label since 1990.

Puth is also the third celebrity name the label has attached to a campaign in under three years.

The pick supports a founding idea that Lucky Brand is for people who make their own luck.

The company points to Puth's career in original songwriting and production as proof that he fits this ethos.

Marisa Thalberg, CMO of Catalyst Brands, the operating partner for Lucky Brand, connected the ambassador choice to this same identity.

"Lucky Brand has always been inspired by people who express themselves unapologetically and leave their mark on culture," she said in a press release.

Thalberg pointed to the same independence in Puth, as well as "his originality, curiosity, and passion for his craft."

"I’ve always believed the best work comes from staying true to who you are. That’s what drew me to Lucky Brand," Puth shared in a statement.

"There is a genuine appreciation for individuality and the confidence to do things your own way, and I’m excited to be part of a brand that celebrates people who make their own luck."

Lucky Brand teased the deal earlier this year with a short film tied to Puth's Flaunt cover story, and Thalberg has said he was already a longtime fan.

A long tease builds a slot the brand owns, so the next name in the rotation inherits the same strategy.

Teasing for months makes the pairing feel inevitable, and it gives Lucky Brand a format to reuse on its next brand campaign.

The slow reveal is the real asset, since a rotating roster needs a repeatable intro more than a marquee name.

The Fortune Cookie Delivers the Tagline

A 30-second hero spot sees Puth cracking open a fortune cookie that reads, "Make Your Own Luck."

The rest of the ad plays out like both an editorial shoot and a music video.

We see Puth snapping, clapping, and creating beats alongside the sounds of jean zippers and fortune cookies opening.

Stefani Fleurant, executive VP of sports and lifestyle marketing at Authentic Brands Group, framed the pick around Puth's independence.

Authentic Brands Group has owned Lucky Brand since 2020.

"Just as music transcends generations, Charlie's artistry has a way of resonating across audiences and moments," she explained. 

"He reflects the independent spirit that has been part of our story from the very beginning."

The brand partnership will run across paid media, owned channels, organic social, in-store marketing and select wholesale partner activations.

The spread puts Puth's name at nearly every point where a shopper meets the label.

Lucky Brand also said the season will continue to spotlight other artists, creators, and innovators tied to its independent-spirit positioning.

The company is treating Puth as one entry in a roster it plans to keep filling.

Running one face across paid, owned, retail, and wholesale at once buys reach quickly and cheaply.

Spending this way also makes a campaign simple to replace later, so the brand identity has to hold on its own.

Lucky Brand Cycled Through Three Faces Since 2023

The three names have almost nothing in common.

Authentic Brands Group put actor Cole Hauser in front of Lucky Brand and Frye in late 2023, ahead of the holiday campaign.

Addison Rae followed last summer with the Addison Ultra Low Rise Flare, a revival of an early 2000s archival fit.

Puth arrives now, and Lucky Brand has said more artists are coming through the rest of the year.

The tradeoff is that each face leaves before a shopper connects it to the label.

Only 37% of consumers trust celebrity endorsements more than other forms of advertising, according to 2025 data compiled by WiFiTalents.

Fashion ranked first among industries for endorsement approval at 42.1% in a 2024 Casino.org survey of 3,000 U.S. consumers.

Denim starts from a friendlier position than most categories, so the ambassador has less lifting to do.

A recognizable name still buys attention, but the trust has to come from the brand itself.

Here are a few takeaways for marketers running similar deals:

• Route budget across every touchpoint: Lucky Brand's plan folds paid media, owned channels, organic social, in-store displays, and wholesale activations into a single push.
• Pick a face whose fandom already trusts the pitch: Given how skeptical younger consumers are of star power alone, an artist with a track record of writing and producing his own work carries more built-in credibility than a pure spokesperson deal.
• Treat the ambassador as one voice in a longer story: Lucky Brand's plan to keep spotlighting other artists through the season serves its ongoing platform.

The research picks the category and rarely the person.

Ambassadors build equity through repetition, so a label swapping faces every year has to hold its own brand positioning.

Our Take: Can a Rotating Cast Build a Brand Identity?

Lucky Brand has put an actor, a pop star/influencer, and a singer-producer in the same slot since 2023.

The tagline is the only thing that survived all three.

We think that a rotating cast can hold an identity, but only if the faces stay interchangeable on purpose.

Lucky Brand is selling Puth as a soulmate who shares its entire philosophy, and this pitch expires the day he's replaced.

Ralph Lauren cycled through campaign faces for decades, and none of them defined the label, because the clothes did the arguing.

Lucky Brand still has enough '90s denim equity to pull this off.

What we want to see is the season's next three names announced before Puth's contract runs out, so the roster reads as a program.