Rihanna New Face of Dior

Rihanna New York City carrying two of Dior's most iconic bags: a light blue 'Lady Dior' and a pink 'Dior Addict'.

RIHANNA has been confirmed as the newest face of Dior’s Secret Garden campaign – and she’s believed to be the first black star to be featured by the French luxury brand. 

Of late, the 27-year-old singer, has been much sought after muse for luxury brand houses and now will star in the Secret Garden’s fourth instalment just days after she was spotted shooting in a silver dress for the brand at the Palace of Versailles in Paris earlier this week. 

Rihanna has already been the face of Gucci, Emporio Armani and Balmain, but she now has another high-end name to add to her impressive fashion house list.

“The house of Dior is pleased to announce that the fourth episode of Secret Garden was filmed this week by Steven Klein in Versailles, guest starring Rihanna,” said Dior in a statement.

In the past, each instalment of the capsule campaign has been set at a royal chateau and unlike Dior’s main campaigns, it has starred models rather than celebrities (think Jennifer Lawrence, Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis and Eva Herzigova) –until now. The fashion muse will star in a short film and print ad set to debut this spring.

This will be her first campaign for Dior and the casting choice is somewhat surprising because although she has sit on the front row of various Dior shows since Raf Simons took over, she doesn’t typically wear the brand on the red carpet – like Portman or Lawrence. Also, the pop star is thought to be the first black celebrity to appear on a Dior campaign in recent years, and certainly the first one under Simons,  the 70-year-old label’s current creative director. 

Simons recently came under fire for not casting black models in his shows, and it was not until his autumn 2013 collection when he casted six black models in the show. 


RELATED ARTICLES
» Jennifer Lawrence Is The New Face Of Miss Dior
» Eva Herzigova New Face of Dior
» For trusted luxury authentic products and services:http://www.luxuryonlinestore.co.uk/

If you enjoyed this post, please consider sharing it, leaving a comment or subscribing to the RSS feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader.

Rihanna Sues Philip Green's Topshop for £3.5m over 'Ugly' T-shirt

Rihanna at the Grammys - suing Philip Green out of 'principle' (Reuters)

RIHANNA is reportedly suing high street fashion store Topshop over T-shirts that have an "unflattering" photo of her on them (23/05/13).

Now, I have struggled to find an ugly picture of the 25-year-old singer who has been reported as suing Sir Philip Green's company for £3.5m, High Court papers filed through law firm Reed Smith in March show.

She says that not only did Topshop use her picture without her permission, the image they chose makes her look ugly - the photo shows her with her hair tied up in a bandanna.

"The base image of the first claimant (Rihanna) is of such an unflattering nature that it would not be approved," the papers say.

Rihanna also takes issue with the quality of the T-shirts, saying both the image and the product "would not have been authorised by the first claimant".

'Unflattering' Topshop t-shirt of Rihanna

In UK law, the copyright of a photograph is owned by the photographer, not the person in the picture. Topshop also said it was allowed to use the image as it was taken in a public place.

The singer is said to be irritated at these laws and is pushing ahead with the lawsuit out of principle, not vanity.

A source said: "RiRi says it's the principle. She believes they are taking advantage of artists, that it's just exploitation and what they are doing is wrong."

Reports go on to say Green offered Rihanna, who is estimated to be worth £35m, £3,500 in compensation, which she turned down.

Should Rihanna win the lawsuit, it would be a landmark case as, at present, there is no "right of publicity" law in the UK.

In the US, however, this law prevents the use of a person's image or name for advertising or trade without their written consent.

All this took place whilst Rihanna was currently promoting her own fashion line with Topshop rival River Island (view that here). Which makes me wonder how much foul play is connected to this action, as the two have vied for celebrities but speaking about the collection, she said: "I made a piece for everybody in my crew, we all have different body types and different tastes.

Rihanna for River Island

"Some are braver than others, but, you know, I think like that because that's how all the women in the world are. We're all different, we all like different things, we all have different occasions, different moods, different body types."

For luxury authentic products & services; http://www.luxuryonlinestore.net/

Rihanna Brings High Street Fashion to London Show

Rihanna

RIHANNA launched her first clothing line with British high-street retailer River Island on Saturday, adding A-list glitz to the British leg of the international fashion circuit reported Reuters 16/02/13.

The fashion credentials of the British high street have flourished in recent years as more household clothing brands inch onto the catwalks of major fashion centres.

Models strutted in a line through a tiered catwalk of five square compartments at Rihanna's show, pausing in each to showcase midriff-bearing mesh tops and yellow shift dresses.

Denim tops teamed with slouchy jeans and monochrome dresses with thigh-high slits mirrored the Barbados-born singer's dressed-down but raunchy style.

Rihanna for River Island

"I loved it - it's so Rihanna, it's got Rihanna's name all over it," Los Angeles model Tolula Adeyemi said in the crowd.

Rihanna, a chart-topping R&B star, has already made a foray into fashion, teaming up with Armani Jeans in 2011.

With Britain facing the prospect of a triple-dip recession, many retailers have been forced to grapple for consumers facing income squeezes. The start of 2013 has seen a number of retail casualties, such as the demise of music retailer HMV.

But fashion industry and marketing experts warn A-list credentials are not always a sure-fire strategy for long-term brand success, and the haute-couture setting of the launch could even alienate Rihanna's target mass-market high-street audience.

Rihanna for River Island

Mary Ellen Muckerman, head of strategy at international brand consultancy Wolff Olins, said it was not hard for celebrities to create buzz.

"The celebrity has a built-in network to get word out and raise the profile of the collaboration very quickly, but what collaborations do struggle with is probably sustainability - how can this not just be 15 minutes of fame," Muckerman said.

STAR SELLING POWER

The boyish designs are Rihanna's first with River Island, a clothing chain that traces its history on Britain's high streets back more than 60 years and is known for its youthful clientele.

The crowd-drawing clothing line between British retailer Topshop and supermodel Kate Moss in 2007 is widely credited with initiating the burst of celebrity lines onto Britain's high street, paving the way for Madonna and Kylie Minogue.

"Celebrity dressing drives a large part of the industry. If celebrities are wearing it, there is confidence that you and I will want to wear those clothes as well," said Caroline Rush, chief executive of the British Fashion Council.

British value chain New Look said it attributed sales of just under 3 million pounds ($4.66 million) to its Kelly Brook line in 2012. The retailer reported group sales from its 1,100 international stores at 710.5 million pounds ($1.10 billion) for the first half of 2012.

Clothing retailer N Brown said its line with former England cricketer Freddie Flintoff accounted for around 5 percent of sales for menswear brand Jacamo and had spurred a ripple effect.

"The wider halo effect is what I see as being the real benefit of using a celebrity," said Paul Kendrick, marketing director at N Brown.

HIGH STREET, HIGH FASHION

London Fashion Week, best known for cutting-edge design, is also hosting upmarket retailer Whistles, as chains increasingly share the runway schedule with up-and-coming designers such as Mary Katrantzou and Holly Fulton.

British Vogue Editor Alexandra Shulman said in the British press this week she viewed the high-street foray into fashion as positive, but warned there was a saturation point.

Wendy Hein, a lecturer in marketing at Birkbeck College, said there was a mismatch between London's high-fashion catwalks and the high-street label.

Rihanna Arriving In London for The Fashion show

"River Island is very much a high-street retail brand and wouldn't have that much of a connection to high fashion and couture," Hein said. "I think considering this mix, there's a danger here in terms of how this is being presented to high-fashion audiences and markets.

For luxury authentic products & services; http://www.luxuryonlinestore.net