KIKO Milano Signs Madonna as Global Brand Ambassador with "The Kiko Show" Campaign

KIKO Milano has named Madonna as its new global brand ambassador, with the launch of a global campaign titled "The KIKO Show" and the confirmation of a long-anticipated US retail partnership with Macy's.

The campaign launched globally on 8 June. Two days earlier, on 6 June, KIKO Milano opened the first three Macy's points of sale at Herald Square in Manhattan, Manhasset on Long Island, and Tysons Corner Center in Virginia. The brand will roll out across further Macy's locations in the coming months. A VIP launch event was held at Macy's Herald Square on 8 June to mark the partnership.

For KIKO, the Macy's deal is its most significant US retail commitment to date and pairs the brand's existing standalone store network with a major department store partner in a market it has historically been under-represented in.

"The KIKO Show" was shot by photographer Rafael Pavarotti, with creative direction from Marcelo Gutierrez, KIKO Milano's global make-up artistry creative director. Madonna appears against LED-lit sets in a series of shifting beauty looks, with the soundtrack a remix of her latest single Bring Your Love produced exclusively for the campaign by Stuart Price.

Styling is by Sadie Davies and includes archival YSL by Tom Ford pieces alongside items from Madonna's own Confessions Tour archive. Hair is by Eugene Souleiman, with set design by Mary Howard.

The campaign opens with Madonna posing the question "Have you met KIKO?" and is built around what the brand describes as a celebration of shared Italian heritage between the singer and the company, alongside its existing brand line that smart girls don't overpay.

Drew Elliott, chief brand officer at KIKO Milano, said the partnership represented a step change for the brand. "Madonna is the blueprint. She's everything," he said. "Working with Madonna let us push KIKO Milano to the next level. It's designed to demand an audience, just like our muse and just like the products themselves. The KIKO show has just begun, and we have more up our sleeves."

The campaign features a slate of KIKO Milano hero SKUs including the Unlimited Double Touch transfer-proof liquid lipstick, 3D Hydra Lip Gloss, Maxi Mod Mascara, High Pigment Wet and Dry Eyeshadow, Long Lasting Eyeshadow Stick and Ultimate Pen Eyeliner. At Macy's, the launch range also includes the Love Fusion Foundation and limited editions.

KIKO Milano was founded in Milan in 1997 and operates more than 1,400 stores across over 75 markets. Despite a strong European and Middle Eastern footprint and a growing presence in Asia, its US business has historically been limited, and the brand has cycled through several US store openings and closures in the past decade. The Macy's partnership signals a more structured retail strategy in the US through a partner with national reach.

The Madonna signing is the latest in a broader pattern of mass-market beauty brands using globally recognised musicians as the anchor of major brand repositioning campaigns. For KIKO Milano, which has built its proposition on Italian-engineered formulas at accessible price points, pairing that positioning with one of the most recognisable performers of the past 40 years places the brand directly in the same conversation as the prestige groups it has historically priced against, without changing the underlying value proposition.