The singer Erykah Badu is the new face of Givenchy spring 2014 campaign. Givenchy is making an effort to change the fashion industry by introducing more faces of colour in their campaigns.
Ricaddo Tisci who is Givenchy creative director said that, though unexpected, Badu’s casting in the campaign makes perfect sense since she was one of the inspirations behind the collection it features. He called her an ‘icon’ and one of the most stylish women he has met in his life. He added that Badu has ‘such a good sense of proportion, of colors,’ when it comes to fashion.
Givenchy spring 2014 collection is inspired by the traditional costumes of Japan & Africa. Tisci said: ‘For me, I grew up in a family and I grew up in a culture, an education, that we all are the same.’
He added: ‘I discovered Joan Smalls, I discovered Maria [Borges]. I discovered a lot of black girls, and I’ve been always supporting them.’ He added ‘It’s 2013…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.’
