One of the situations that ‘better late than never’ applies.

Text: Iliana Deligiorgi

(Images: © Dior/Steven Klein)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGw9q8xppfg

 

Secret Garden IV. Versailles. Rihanna for Dior by Steven Klein. The Barbadian singer is climbing the staircase of the French palace in her stilettos and red Dior dress, staring captivated at the walls and decorations surrounding her. Seconds later, her attitude -and, of course, clothing- is changing. At first stepping fiercely on the marble floor, wearing a shiny long-sleeved gown, before she starts running, passing rooms full of mirrors and extravagant decorations. Then, she discovers the secret garden, the place she longed to find. The scenery after this moment is forever changing, with Rihanna dancing, walking and spinning inside and outside the walls of the Palace of Versailles in France. And as Dior’s latest muse parades in Raf Simons’ creations from the 2015 Esprit Dior Tokyo collection, it’s the first time we hear a sample of the singer’s upcoming song “Only if for a Night”.

However, the above-mentioned facts are just a minor detail comparing to the fact that Rihanna is the first black women featured in a Dior advertisement campaign in the history of the French fashion house. While this shouldn’t be making news in 2015, this campaign is a huge step towards a fashion era when race, culture, age and any other type of difference isn’t an issue. And in other great news, this comes only 3 months after Jourdan Dunn is the first solo model featured on the cover of the British Vogue. Baby steps towards the corruption of inequality standards in fashion, but steps indeed.

Check all the photographs of the Dior ad campaign, below:

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