Model and stylist Aleali May has a big moment as the face of Louis Vuitton‘s spring 2020 ad campaign as one of four “tastemakers.” The effort shines a light on Louis Vuitton’s accessories with a focus on the French label’s famed scarves, which May along with Aimee Song, Marie Von Behrens and Devon Carlson style in a different way.
While May has become a fixture in the front rows of Fashion Weeks’ most prestigious labels, her beginnings are far more humble than many of her seatmates.
Raised in South Central, Los Angeles, May, whose father is black and mother is Filipino, attended high school in Colorado where she worked at PacSun as well as American Apparel. After graduating high school, she headed to Chicago where she majored in marketing at Columbia College. While out shopping, she had a game-changing moment when she walked into a Louis Vuitton’s store on Michigan Avenue. Immediately impressed by the setting, she made it her mission to land a job at the chic store.
The Louis Vuitton gig kicked off her styling efforts and also lead to retail jobs at Virgil Abloh, Don Crawley and Kristen Noel Crawley‘s RSVP Gallery and FourTwoFour on Fairfax following her return to Los Angeles.
Not long after, she launched alealimay.com where she documented her signature style, a look underpinned by a unisex approach blending luxury, streetwear and sneaker labels. The blog in 2016 caught the eye of designer Frank Cooke of Jordan Brand, which eventually partnered with her on three, widely-praised retro Jordan silhouettes, starting with the Air Jordan 1 Satin Shadow, launched in May 2017.
While Louis Vuitton may be her most prestigious campaign to date, she’s also fronted efforts for Adidas, EA Sports, Canon, Smashbox Cosmetics and Ugg. As such, while it’s fair to describe May’s transformation from Louis Vuitton retail sales person to the face of a global campaign as a full circle moment, at just 27-years-old, May is just getting started.
Check out additional images along with the campaign video below.
