Why ‘enfant terrible’ Hublot is growing up
by Luke Benedictus · Australian Financial ReviewLuke BenedictusWatch editor
Sep 3, 2026 – 5.00am
Hublot began spruiking a new watch last year, the Big Bang 20th Anniversary Red Magic. The face of the marketing campaign wasn’t an actor or a model. Nor was it an athlete or musician. Instead, the left-field promotion centred on a wristless animal named Choupette, the late Karl Lagerfeld’s fluffy white cat.
It was a characteristically subversive move for the Swiss watch brand, which has a maverick reputation founded on doing things differently. In a notorious example, British billionaire Bernie Ecclestone was violently mugged outside his London home, and his Hublot ripped off his wrist. The brand promptly used an image of his gruesomely bruised face in a 2010 print ad with the slogan: “See what people will do for a Hublot.”
Loading...
Save
Log in or Subscribe to save article
Share
Copy link
Copied
Copy link
Copied
Share via...
Gift this article
Subscribe to gift this article
Gift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.
Already a subscriber? Login
Read More
Luke BenedictusWatch editorLuke Benedictus is watch editor of The Australian Financial Review. He also writes about wellness.
Latest In Fashion & style
Fetching latest articles