Collaborative partnerships between a celebrity and a brand don’t come more of a match made in heaven than Emma Chamberlain and Levi’s. The ultimate Cali girl and the American heritage denim brand go way back, which is why it makes so much sense that the multi-hyphenate creator be the face of its holiday campaign that celebrates the art of gifting and… 'it’s giving'. Literally. That’s its name.
‘I'm such a denim girl like I am obsessed ,’ she tells ELLE UK. ‘I'm a full denim collector. If you go into my closet, it's scary. It's like wow, okay, how does she even know which jean is which as there are so many? I have a weird relationship with all of them. It’s like I fully have a friendship with each pair.’
Now aged 22, Emma started her collection in her teens and remembers the sheer magic of the moment she found her first pair of vintage Levi’s in her local thrift store. ‘I mean, it was so exciting,’ she enthuses. ‘[Finding ] a great pair of vintage Levi's is priceless. So that was magical.’
If you need any proof of Emma’s status as a lifelong Levi’s lover then you need only look back at her first-ever video on her YouTube channel, which sees her wearing, yep, a Levi’s T-shirt. ‘I've just always been a Levi's girl. And my dad's always worn them. There's something just so special and nostalgic about Levi's for me. It runs so deep that working with them is always a no-brainer.’
This latest venture sees Emma front its Christmas campaign, where she tries on two different aesthetics. One is cosy casual, while the second is a more party-friendly aesthetic including a particularly standout denim two-piece. The most natural for Emma is the former, she explains.
‘I do feel inspired when wearing Levi's to dress more simply like there's just something about it. A nice fitting jean is just such a beautiful thing that I like to let them shine.’
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If Emma had to choose one piece from her It’s Giving edit, it would be the Ribcage Bells. ‘The dramatic high waist is so comfortable for one and I love a high-waisted pant. They have this kitschy, cute 1970s feel, but they're still modern. And I really appreciate that. Sometimes more of a flare can be so dramatic that it's hard to style. It's not easy to integrate into your day-to-day, but these have the perfect balance of modern and vintage so that they can be styled in so many different ways. And those have to be my favourite.’
This campaign pulls the art of gifting into focus as we all gear up to treat our nearest and dearest. The best Emma present has ever given? ‘I would say probably paying off my parents' mortgage,’ she shares proudly. ‘It was actually so funny. Because a) it was something I just decided I was going to do as soon as I was able to do so, and then b) I basically just told them and said "I’m doing this". It was very casual gift-giving. It wasn’t an occasion, but I was like "You deserve this gift".'
This extraordinarily generous gesture from Emma doesn’t reflect the sorts of gifts she prefers to receive these days, however. She explains: ‘I love a gift that is super niche to me, that maybe I talked about, at some point. I also love a gift that's genuinely useful in some way, you know, something that's not necessarily excessive but something that will genuinely be used, like a cute purse that I'm going to use every day.'
Emma credits her May 22 birthdate and resulting Gemini star sign with helping her with being very good at pulling a great resting gift face if she receives a present she’s not that into.
‘I am so good at it,’ she laughs. ‘It's almost scary. I'm very good at making sure everyone thinks that I love everyone and everything. I'm good at hiding that emotion. I'm a Gemini and we can turn it on and hide it. It's not a skill I'm ashamed of. I would hope that somebody would lie to me too. I don't need to know that you hate it. But I very rarely receive a gift that I don't like. I'm always so grateful that somebody thought of me that it's like any I can't be disappointed because it's so sweet to me that it happened in the first place. That's something that has come with age.’
That being said, Emma is much more comfortable being the Father Christmas of it all these days in being the one dishing out the gifts. ‘I don't love receiving gifts like I did when I was a kid. As an adult, I feel uncomfortable with it. I don't need gifts anymore so I prefer to just give the gifts and call it a day.’
Well, consider this gift of a dream collaboration and campaign very well received, Emma. A thank you card is in the post!
