Gucci 'Tattoo Heart Collection' 2008 : Rihanna by Inez van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin

[Spike413]

I wonder if you all would have loved it if it had been a White actress or singer. Let's be real here, it is not HALF as bad as the majority is making it to be. If you dislike the bag, you dislike the bag, but there is nothing wrong with Rihanna. She looks great and the pose is interesting.

You're not seriously making this into an issue of race

If the majority of people that have posted hate the ad, it's because it's the ad isn't all that great. You may think that she looks good and that there's nothing wrong in choosing her to be the face of this ridiculous line of bags, but that's your opinion...not a universal truth. And to imply that the people who don't share your opinion are holding a racial double standard is unimaginably offensive on your part.

Is it so hard to imagine that to some of the people who posted their thoughts on the campaign, it's just boring photographs for a tacky line of bags with an overexposed pop singer who is neither remarkably talented or stylish starring in them, and that those opinions don't have anything to do with the color of her skin?

I'm sorry if this comes off as overly harsh, but in the future perhaps you'll be more careful throwing around accusations of racism, especially when you can't possibly know the race of all of the members who have posted their thoughts.

 

[Crakk]

What is offensive about it? My comment is based off of the many times in which I have seen ads of mediocre Caucasian models, boring white actresses receive the highest of praise on this site, while the Black models and celebrities receive a small percentage of it, even when they are shooting the ad out of the park, performance and aesthetic wise. I don't see what is so outrageous about my comment. It is a known fact that Black women are not as readily received as their White counterparts in fashion, regardless of the race's audience. I thought that was common knowledge.

If it had been Angelina, Carrie Underwood, someone white, the majority would have been head over heels. The bag is corny, yes, but I hold firm to the belief that Rihanna looks good. What should she have done for everyone to fall in and love the ad? She had no power over the styling or direction of the ad. She was there to receive a check and use her celebrity as a marketing ploy.

 

[Crakk]

FYI, neither of my comments are to those who said the bag was ugly, but understood Rihanna's inclusion, my comments are to those who in their judgment of the bag, are making negative statements about Rihanna. The bag is tired, but what is so wrong about Rihanna? That is my issue. Anyone with common sense knows why Rihanna was brought in, and progressive fashion heads should be applauding her inclusion, not many Black women front the ads of blue chip fashion houses, whether it be for UNICEF or not.

 

[Spike413]

^ What's offensive is that you're disregarding other people's opinions as being not only meaningless but bigoted as well, just because they disagree with you. If you can't see why it would be hugely offensive for you to come into a thread and accuse most of the posters of being racist morons, then I'm not sure I or anybody else can help you understand why it is.

What you don't seem to realize is that none of what you said, with the one exception being that models of color get less work and recognition than caucasian models, is entirely based on your opinions. Just because you think a white model is mediocre doesn't mean she is to everybody. Just because you find a white actress boring doesn't mean she is to everybody. And I'd like to point out that people likely approach models very differently than they do celebrities. Celebs garner strong opinions from people, opinions that are likely to influence how they feel about whatever it is that particular celebrity does. So, if someone cannot stand Rhianna's music and finds her painfully overrated chances are that dislike is going to reflect in their opinions of everything she does.

Nobody should like this ad just because it's a black person fronting it any more than they should hate this ad for that reason. Those are equally foolish and shallow things to factor into an opinion. You cannot possibly know why people like or dislike anything, and for you to question their ethics and beliefs based on the opinion they hold towards a silly, vapid handbag advertisement is incredibly wrong.

And if I were you, I'd take a peek in the US magazine threads here on tFS. They kind of dispell your theory that people mindlessly praise the boring white celebrities that appear in fashion spreads and covers.

 

[Crakk]

You are right, I was a little too hasty with my comment.

 

[vogue28]

the full campaign is up on gucci.com

There is only one new shot

 

[vogue28]

gucci.com

 

[mikel]

thanks for posting. The pose in the third shot is interesting.

 

[Nouvelle_Vague]

Eww... I hate the bags. I see why they used Rihanna for the campaign, as it is for UNICEF and they want to attract a larger audience, but what's with the bags? Wouldn't they make more money for UNICEF if they actually designed some decent bags for it that people would want to buy?

 

[homeboy]

I think the ad is gorgeous and very sensual. Rihanna is an absolute perfect choice. Unlike many celebrities she has a clean image, is loved by millions of people around the world and people enjoy listening to her music. I can't think of anyone other celeb who has the same universal appeal than Rihanna.

 

[dior_couture1245]

The ads are incredibly boring. I like the third pose, but the first two are rather...showgirl. And while I don't find Rihanna ugly, I do find her terribly overrated...she's just another celebrity whose accomplishments don't seem to merit the popularity she's found.

But the most heinous part of this is the bags. Frida deserves some sort of reward...I mean, I though it was literally impossible to make something that looked cheaper, tackier and more obnoxious than all that Ed Hardy sh*t...boy, I was wrong!

 

[Aby]

Rihanna looks lovely and fresh on those ads.

 

[Dkammern]

i think i already said this somewhere else, didn't i?

Rihanna and Frida deserve each other

 

[pinkvogue]

Rihanna looks lovely in those ads.

 

[kaieng]

i used to think that Rihanna is a tiny girl ( 5'3-5'4) but i realized that actually she is almost 6'..........just wonder why she will give me such this illusion...

 

[gyal]

Unlike many celebrities she has a clean image, is loved by millions of people around the world and people enjoy listening to her music.

that's exactly why i think they picked her and not another celebrity. I personnaly was expecting much more from the bags but i disagree with people saying Rihanna looks ugly, the ads are fine. Not wow, just ok. It could've been better though.

 

[mikel]

I&V shot it.

source: Vogue Nippon January 09

 

[DK92]

Source: riccardoruinistudio.com