Celebrity Names: Ice Spice & John Turturro
Brand Name: H&M
Deal Type: Brand Campaign / Editorial Partnership
Announced: February 26, 2026
Impact: First installment of H&M’s four-city global style series for 2026; reinforces Ice Spice’s growing status as a top-tier brand partner across fashion, beauty, and automotive; positions H&M as a culturally tuned-in brand for Gen Z and beyond
- H&M launches “H&M&NEW YORK,” a new global campaign series kicking off in New York City, featuring Bronx-born rapper Ice Spice and Brooklyn native actor John Turturro as lead faces.
- The campaign is the first of four city-based installments planned for 2026, with the next stop being Rio de Janeiro in spring.
- The cast is deliberately cross-generational and diverse, blending bold-faced names with unknown New Yorkers discovered on the streets, including models Paloma Elsesser and Liya Kebede, and content creator Kareem Rahma.
- For Ice Spice, this adds to a red-hot brand partnership streak that already includes Kate Spade, Mercedes, and Revlon.
H&M is putting New York City front and center in its boldest campaign move in years. The Swedish retail giant just unveiled “H&M&NEW YORK,” a new city-by-city global campaign series, and they’ve tapped an unexpected but undeniably compelling pair to lead it: Bronx rap sensation Ice Spice and legendary Brooklyn-born actor John Turturro.
Shot by acclaimed photographer Rafael Pavarotti, the campaign brings together a cross-generational mix of New York creatives, from bold-faced names to emerging talents.
Ice Spice appears in an oversized printed mesh T-shirt paired with barrel-leg jeans, while Turturro rocks a denim trucker jacket layered under a sweeping atelier coat.
The rest of the cast is just as eclectic. Faces include model Liya Kebede, plus-size model Paloma Elsesser, content creator Kareem Rahma, and fashion fixture Lynn Yaeger, alongside unknown personalities discovered right on the streets of New York.
The series is set to travel to four major cities in 2026, with Rio de Janeiro next up for H&M&RIO during the spring.
This isn’t Ice Spice’s first rodeo in the brand world. She’s been on a serious run: landing deals with Kate Spade and Mercedes, plus a product collaboration with Revlon, all in 2025. H&M had already been building a relationship with her through music merch tie-ins before bringing her into this flagship campaign.
It’s also worth noting that John Turturro is no stranger to New York–themed brand campaigns. Earlier in 2025, he appeared alongside Spike Lee in Nordstrom’s “For Everything New York” campaign.
H&M has a long history of star-powered campaigns, previously partnering with icons like Madonna, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Lana Del Rey, and The Weeknd. But this new city series feels like a more evolved approach: less about putting a famous face on a product and more about using talent to tell a genuine cultural story.
That’s the same instinct behind McQueen’s recent campaign starring Caroline Polachek, Amy Taylor, and Celeste, where the artists were chosen specifically because their distinct visual identities added meaning to the clothes, not just visibility to the brand.
Takeaways:
What makes this campaign genuinely interesting isn’t just the star power, it’s the strategy. H&M is doing something smart here: rather than just slapping celebrities in clothes, they’re using the city as the campaign’s main character. That’s a brand storytelling move that feels authentic rather than manufactured, and in 2026, authenticity is the currency that matters most in fashion marketing.
Pairing Ice Spice with John Turturro is also a flex. She brings Gen Z reach and cultural heat; he brings decades of New York credibility and critical acclaim. Together, they signal to audiences both young and old: this brand gets New York.
Does this kind of city-first campaign make H&M feel more authentic to you as a shopper? Is Ice Spice becoming this decade’s go-to face for youth-focused fashion and beauty brands?
