Erykah Badu stars in the new
Givenchy Spring/Summer 2014 campaign alongside models Maria Borges and Riley
& Asia Chow. Captured by photography duo Mert & Marcus, a preview of
the new campaign shows Badu posing in a tribal print cape top in a gorgeous
black & white image. Pushing for racial equality in the industry, head
Givenchy designer Riccardo Tisci continues to cast a broad and diverse range of
models and artists for his campaigns. Casting Badu might be an unexpected move
for the designer, but he explains that she is simply an icon who deserved a place
in his campaigns. He reveals that his casting choices are always people who
inspired him in some way and she definitely ticks the boxes:
“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. It’s kind of a family portfolio.”
Tisci
also admits that he has avoided being the centre of controversy – other designers
have been called out for selecting only white models or muses for their collection
presentations or campaigns, especially on the lead up to the Spring/Summer 2014
collections - but he was already designing with Badu in mind when it became big
news and he has always been very open about casting a range of models without
ever ignoring models based on race. He said that he has even discovered some of
the current top black models such as Joan Smalls:
“There
was a lot of talk this season in fashion. Me, I was one of the persons who
ended up not being touched by this. I discovered Joan Smalls, I discovered
Maria [Borges]. I discovered a lot of black girls, and I’ve been always
supporting them. For me, I grew up in a family and I grew up in a culture, an
education, that we all are the same.”
