Erykah Badu is officially the new face of Givenchy’s upcoming spring 2014 ad campaign.
The R&B singer was reportedly selected for the gig because of her extremely unique style. Since Badu is know for her fashion choices, Givenchy creative director Riccardo Tisci said the musician was the ideal choice to front the company’s upcoming campaign.
“Erykah, she’s an icon — come on! What I want to do with my advertising campaign is spread the love. Already now it’s been three seasons that I’ve been using people that express something – they are great artists, or beautiful women, or stylish women, or models that I really believe in,” Tisci told Style.com .
He continued, “It’s kind of a family portfolio. [Badu] one of the most stylish women I’ve met in my life.”
According to the Dallas Morning News , Erykah Badu’s involvement with the Givenchy’s spring 2014 collection officially arrived in Paris on Wednesday (December 11). The singer said Tisci called her out-of-the-blue one day and asked her to sign on for the campaign. She didn’t hesitate to say yes.
“Riccardo’s a fan of my style. He told me he really wanted to work with me because he had a special campaign he designed for me. He sent me some of the photos, and I was super-honored; I didn’t take it for granted,” Badu explained.
The award-winning singer added, “Fashion is my thing, and I am a big fan of Riccardo’s — not just because of his amazing eye, but because of his spirit, what he wanted. He wants to give models of color an opportunity, and he chose me as the face for that campaign because he told me I fit what he wanted to represent.”
The Daily Mail points out that Erykah Badu’s involvement with the Givenchy campaign arrived hot on the heels of industry criticism regarding white-washed runways. In an effort to turn the tide, the fashion house tapped the singer as the face of their spring collection.
“At the end of the day, why are not so many black girls or Latin girls in shows when you have an American president who is black? When I see this happening, it’s quite sad, I think. People can be so avant-garde, so advanced, but actually not, because people are still making differences between skin color,” Tisci said.
Are you a fan of Erykah Badu ? Were you surprised to learn that the R&B singer was recently hired to front Givenchy’s upcoming spring 2014 collection?
