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From the start, entrepreneur Kazumasa Terada had his eye on the global market.

Using celebrities like the Hilton sisters in 2002 to promote his handbag label, Terada has turned Samantha Thavasa into a household name in Japan, and is on the verge of bigger things abroad.

With the opening of the first outlet overseas on Madison Avenue in New York City in November, Terada, 41, has moved a step closer to his long-cherished ambition: to transform Samantha Thavasa into a world-class brand.

Terada’s promotional tactics of tapping famous fashion icons as ad models and designers for Samantha Thavasa have proved effective.

“We had a showroom in New York more than 10 years ago and the Hilton sisters were frequent customers,” Terada, president of Samantha Thavasa Japan Ltd., said in a recent interview with The Japan Times.

When they came to the reception, Terada approached them and asked if they would be interested in promoting Samantha Thavasa items.

Others on the list of worldwide celebrities who represent Samantha Thavasa products in advertising campaigns are Victoria Beckham, Beyonce, Maria Sharapova, Penelope and Monica Cruz, Tinsley Mortimer and, most recently, Sarah Jessica Parker.

Japan Times