Rihanna for Dior Secret Garden IV Campaign

If you follow Rihanna on Instagram, you’ve most likely already seen a sneak peek of her photos and videos from her Dior campaign. Dior unveiled the fourth chapter in the Secret Garden saga, a campaign and a film by Steven Klein starring Rihanna, shot in the château and gardens of Versailles. The Secret Garden saga began Spring 2012, each year the château and its domain offer up a new facet of their personality that resonates with that season’s Dior collections.

Posing in the chateau and gardens of Versailles, Rihanna is once again captured by Steven Klein’s lens. In this mysterious atmosphere, the moon’s beams highlight the details of the collection: the closure and metallic cannage of a Diorama bag, the silvered sequins of a dress, the finely worked Tribale earrings, the spangles speckling a little veil. A host of futuristic sparkles contrast and reflect in the chateau’s mirrors and gilding, creating an enigmatic dialogue between 18th-century refinement and the attitude of the contemporary Dior woman.

The film Secret Garden IV presents the Esprit Dior collection that was shown in Tokyo in December 2014. More than a backdrop, Tokyo was also the source of inspiration: patches with angular cut-outs, contrasting stitching, short skirts and sequined tops reprised the manga aesthetic. But above all it is the energy of the megalopolis that comes through in the silhouettes designed by Raf Simons, Artistic Director of the Maison Dior. Amazing campaign, love Rihanna!

More info and photos after the jump…

“Rihanna’s mystery and intrigue combined with her razor sharp looks and sensibility, are the essential; perfect elements to create the stage for Secret Garden.” Steven Klein

Versailles at night. An enigmatic presence. A modern muse. In this, the Secret Garden’s fourth chapter, the château and gardens take on a particular ambiance, as spectral and tawny lighting reveal a timeless decor. On the grand staircase, Rihanna seems to have stepped straight out of a dream; she wanders through the Salons of the Gods and dances in the Hall of Mirrors. The groves in the park appear like something out of a fairy tale. In the garden we find reflections again, their interplay creating the shape of the setting: the facade of the château is mirrored in the fountains designed by Le Nôtre, the hedges flash in the star’s sunglasses. Then day breaks over the Latona Fountain and the embroidered grounds, whose landscaping and extreme refinement recall the delicacy of the haute couture dress named after this part of the garden. The main soundtrack for the film comes from Rihanna’s upcoming album. The Dior spot features a song called «Only If For a Night» produced by Midas and is the intro to her 8th studio album.

Rihanna for Dior Secret Garden IV Campaign

It’s a city where fashion happens in the streets,” the designer explained backstage just before the show began. Washed, coated and oiled fabric, hot-stamped floral jacquard details on collars and on patches for larger pieces: on one hand there was all the Japanese tradition of fabric workmanship. On the other there were Scottish wools, Shetland tanks and sequinned trompe-l’oeil that picked up on the cable stitch, honeycomb stitch and other motifs in European knits. It’s here that West meets East. Further contrasts: the encounter of a femme-fleur in slim trousers and a flared Corolle top and a more outdoor type of woman in an ample coat of untreated cotton – not to mention the mix of night and day, where dresses embroidered with sequins mingled with mini-dresses in raw, washed fabrics that were worked like leather, or short, wide-collared pea coats in felt.

DIRECTOR: Steven Klein
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Larry Smith
STYLIST:Mel Ottenberg
MAKEUP:Stéphane Marais
HAIR:Yusef Williams

Photos courtesy of Dior