Award-winning actor Asher Keddie named new face of Myer

She is one of Australia’s most-loved actors and now Asher Keddie can add fashionista to her title. The 45-year-old has just been signed as Myer’s new style ambassador, Annette Sharp reports.

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Gold Logie winning actor Asher Keddie is Myer’s new style ambassador, bucking the trend of replacing mature models with younger versions.

The “hardworking” star of Offspring and Love My Way, 45, has been signed to a new contract and will feature prominently in ads for the department store from today, replacing Jennifer Hawkins who was, at 35, a decade younger than Keddie.

“We love Asher because of what she’s achieved, what she represents,” Myer’s chief customer service officer Geoff Ikin told The Sunday Telegraph.

Asher Keddie has signed on as Myer’s new style ambassador. Picture: Georges Antoni

“She’s driven, hardworking, family focused, down to earth, relatable — that’s our core customer. She’s a much-loved Australian and we’re an Australian department store and she represents what our customers love and what we want as a brand. She was a natural choice.”

Keddie, who appears in Stellar today, joins Myer’s stable of “ambassadors” Kris Smith, Elyse Knowles and Rachael Finch, and its newly signed youth face, Sarsha Chisholm.

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While not wishing to be drawn on comparisons to Hawkins, who Myer transformed into a household name during a 12-year relationship but who broke with the department store last November after pricing herself out of the market, Ikin conceded Keddie was a departure for “Australia’s favourite department store”.

It’s a signature Myer can claim by default given it is now the country’s only Australian-owned department store.

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Myer Chief Customer Service Officer Geoff Ikin

Keddie on the cover of Stellar magazine. Photo: Georges Antoni

“Asher is a little bit more out of the pure fashion space (and) it reflects what our customer is about these days,” Ikin said.

“Recognisable faces are important in the marketing world. The people we choose are carefully selected so they are what we want to be about.

“Asher’s won three Gold Logies — she’s been one of the most loved darlings of the industry for a long time, so for us she represents not only appeal to women but also men of all ages.”

Keddie said Myer holds “a special place in my heart”.

“Myer was a really big part of my childhood and continues to be a place that I not only like to shop at but like to visit because it makes me feel good,” Keddie said.

“(It’s) a brand I love and have a genuine affinity with so I was flattered when they approached me to be their style ambassador.

Former Myer style ambassador Jennifer Hawkins opening last year’s show. Picture: Toby Zerna

“Some of my most vivid memories as a child are going to see the Myer Christmas windows. My mum would take us each year as kids, we’d be treated to lunch and then we’d all shop together choosing gifts for family and friends,” she said.

“When my grandmother travelled into the city we’d always meet her at the cafe in Myer Bourke Street (Melbourne) — so it naturally has a special place in my heart.”

The appointment will see Keddie feature in Myer’s Spring/Summer 2019 campaign where she will model some of the 90 new brands the department store will stock by year’s end — among them Veronica Beard, HUSK, Aeryne, BA & SH and Hansen & Gretel.

While refusing to specify the term or value of Keddie’s new contract — Ikin admitting a future mum-and-bub campaign with Hawkins and her expected new baby “had crossed” his mind — the Myer executive said the department store wished Hawkins the best but was focused on its customers first making the “relatable” Keddie a perfect fit.

Originally published as Award-winning actor Asher Keddie named new face of Myer