Akiko Maeda has notched up a first at global drinks giant Bacardi.

She has become the first head of fashion at the firm, and she aims to create a fusion of premium drinks and high fashion to boost the company’s brand portfolio.

“I get to cut across all of the brands — it’s not just Bacardi rum, but Grey Goose vodka and Bombay Sapphire gin as well,” said Ms Maeda.

“We will, as Bacardi brands, be collaborating with fashion brands, not just designers, but editors and retailers too. It’s a pretty large industry when you think about it.”

She added: “It really comes down to marketing — it’s a language and one way we like to connect.

“There is a whole universe out there and naturally it fits very well with the high end spirits base.”

Ms Maeda, originally from Tokyo, Japan, joined Bacardi earlier this year as vice-president of fashion.

She was formally with global firm IMG Worldwide, where she was vice-president for product and platform development for the company’s fashion are.

She advised up-and-coming designers on the use of media, sales and financial planning.

Earlier, she was vice-president in charge of social media, where she designed community-based digital products for athletes and led IMG’s investment in ModaOperandi.com, an online luxury fashion retailer.

Bacardi said Ms Maeda, 42, will work closely with its marketing and commercial teams to deliver key events, social and digital activations with key figures in the world of high fashion.

Ms Maeda said: “We’re developing programmes as opposed to campaigns.”

Ms Maeda last month paired Bacardi’s premium Corzo tequila and top New York mixologist Jillian Vose with American luxury designer label Thaddeus O’Neil’s first ever womenswear collection for spring and summer next year.

The cocktails inspired by the apres surf collection were served at shows to promote the range.

Earlier, Ms Maeda paired fashion designers with cocktail mixologists, who used a Bacardi-owned spirit to jointly come up with recipes that reflected the collections on show.

Ms Maeda said: “These cocktails were served to guests. The entire process was filmed, so everybody could share in the experience.

“I really see cocktails as an art form and I think it works very well with fashion, where there are a lot of sensational elements — I really see a lot of commonalities.”

Ms Maeda added it was “no coincidence” that the most successful promoters in fashion tended to come from areas like high end craft beer.

She said: “What I like to do is offer cocktails as an alternative — it really does enhance what a designer is about to reveal at their shows.

“We’re enhancing the experience of guests arriving at the shows, who are served a cocktail.

“And for those not able to participate, they can watch on a tablet or mobile phone and take part that way.”

She explained: “It’s about building Bacardi portfolios’ stature as an artistic endeavour.”

Ms Maeda added: “Another great strength of Bacardi is that they have very strong brands in every region and they are very representative of local culture and history.

“In almost every region, we have an iconic brand which delivers a lot of design creativity. Bacardi has really strong assets.”

“And the fact that Bacardi is family-owned resonates with fashion brands because oftentimes these fashion houses are started as family businesses.”

Ms Maeda has based at family-owned Bacardi’s iconic world HQ on Hamilton’s Pitts Bay Road since she was appointed in February.

She said she had been impressed by her reception in Bermuda — and even saw similarities with her home city of Tokyo, which sits on Honchu island and has a population of more than 13 million.

She added: “There is a sense of being rooted in a community, which to me brought back memories of living in Tokyo.

“There is that sense of life on an island — you feel like you share a common destiny.

“Despite being a stranger, I was very much touched because people were interested in where I came from.”