Givenchy Spring/Summer 2014 Campaign Featuring Erykah Badu & Model Riley Montana

/sm/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Givenchy-SS-14-Campaign-Erkyah-Badu-2.jpg
Givenchy's S/S 14 Campaign Featuring Erkyah Badu & Riley Montana

Givenchy’s S/S 14 Campaign Featuring Erkyah Badu & Riley Montana

Citing African and Japanese influences for Givenchy’s Spring/Summer 2014 collection, Riccardo Tisci has selected neo-soul songstress Erykah Badu as the face of its campaign.

“She’s an icon—come on!” Tisci said. “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.”

Givenchy's S/S 14 Campaign Featuring Erkyah Badu

Givenchy’s S/S 14 Campaign Featuring Erkyah Badu

The designer actually had the singer in mind when he was designing the new collection. “She’s one of the most stylish women I’ve met in my life,” he said. “She’s got such a good sense of proportion, of colors.”

Shot by Mert & Marcus the campaign also features models, Maria Borges , newcomer Riley Montana , and Asia Chow — all of whom just happen to be of color.

Also See: Maria Borges, Asia Chow’s Givenchy Spring/Summer 2014 Ads Surface

Tisci’s enthusiastic willingness to champion for diversity also stands out in Givenchy’s runway casting as well.

“There was a lot of talk this season in fashion,” Tisci said. “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.”

Givenchy's S/S 14 Campaign Featuring Riley M

Givenchy’s S/S 14 Campaign Featuring Riley M

Hoping others will catch up Tisci said, “It’s 2013. Everybody’s being so cool about Instagram, about Facebook, any media—everybody’s being so open. 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.”

via style.com

Author