Rihanna makes history as Dior's first black star

Rihanna makes history as Dior’s first black star

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At the 2015 Met Gala, Rihanna’s elaborate cape, made by Chinese designer Guo Pei, was so sweepingly huge that it required several train-handlers to help her down the red carpet.

(Larry Busacca / Getty Images)

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Singer Rihanna will be the latest face of Dior, making her the first-ever black ambassador of the luxury designer brand. She is pictured in a pale pink quilted silk Dior dress. (Bryan Bedder / Getty Images)

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Rihanna wears sneakers from the January Chanel haute couture collection to the Chanel show at the 2015 Paris Fashion Week. (Francois Guillot / AFP / Getty Images)

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Rihanna stands out from the crowd in a fur and leather coat at the Miu Miu show at the 2015 Paris Fashion Week. (Pierre Suu / Getty Images)

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Rihanna rocks a pink, poofy Giambattista Valli Empire gown at the 2015 Grammy Awards. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Rihanna wears a beige satin Ulyana Sergeenko bodysuit with a pastel pink robe dress at the 2014 MTV Movie Awards. (Christopher Polk / Getty Images for MTV)

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Rihanna wears an Azzedine Alaia dress, Neil Lane jewelry and Manolo Blahnik shoes at the 2013 Grammy Awards. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

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Rihanna in a black Armani dress at the 2012 Grammy Awards. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

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Rihanna in Elie Saab at the 2010 American Music Awards. (Chris Pizzello / Associated Press)

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Rihanna wears an open-back crepe gown by Elie Saab on the red carpet at the 2010 Grammy Awards. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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Rihanna wears an edgy Viktor & Rolf dress at Clive Davis’ Annual Pre-Grammy Gala in 2010. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Rihanna in a sheer Jean Paul Gaultier dress at the 2011 Grammy Awards. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

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Rihanna performs in a feathery corset dress at the 2008 Grammy Awards. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

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Rihanna wears a blue, feather-trimmed Zac Posen dress at the 2008 Grammy Awards. (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

By Tre’vell Anderson

March 18, 2015 12:24 PM PT

Pop princess Rihanna has officially, and successfully, turned her career into one about more than just music. Now the Barbadian singer and actress is the new face -- and the the first of a black woman -- for fashion line Dior.

“It feels fantastic,” she told MTV in an interview about her historic casting. “It is such a big deal for me, for my culture, for a lot of young girls of any color.”

Dior announced last week that Rihanna, 27, will star in its Secret Garden campaign, now in its fourth year. Models Daria Strokus, Melissa Stasiuk and Xiao Wen Ju were featured in the campaign previously, and actresses Jennifer Lawrence, Natalie Portman and Marion Cotilard are also Dior brand ambassadors.

“I think to be acknowledged by Dior is just, it means a lot as a woman and to feel beautiful, elegant and timeless,” Rihanna said.

This will be the FourFiveSeconds singer’s first time modeling for the French label, though she has graced countless magazine covers, including Vogue, multiple times. She has also modeled previously for Balmain and Emporio Armani, and was named 2014’s Style Icon by the Council of Fashion Designers of America.

According to Women’s Wear Daily, photographer Steven Klein is shooting the print and film versions of Dior’s campaign this week at the Palace of Versailles outside Paris. The campaign is expected to be released this spring.

Follow the reporter on Twitter: @TrevellAnderson.

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Tre’vell Anderson

Tre’vell Anderson is a former film reporter for the Los Angeles Times. A sociology graduate from Morehouse College in Atlanta, they also received their master’s in journalism from Stanford University. They left The Times in November 2018.

Rihanna makes history as Dior’s first black star

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