It’s official: subsequent to a 20-year run as the face of Christian Dior’s J’adore fragrance, Charlize Theron is replaced with none other than Rihanna for 2024. Rumors first began to swirl the Barbadian superstar was to replace Theron as the face of the scent over on theFashionSpot forums back in April, with an official announcement made in June. Now, our first look at the highly-anticipated campaign is here, with Rihanna (true to speculation) photographed by Steven Klein. In 2015, Rihanna made history as she became the first black woman to be the face of the fabled French fashion house (starring in the ‘Secret Garden‘ campaign shot within the grounds of Versailles). Rihanna and Steven Klein return to the Palace of Versailles for this year’s J’adore campaign, to roam throughout the decadent former royal residence and usher in a new era for such an iconic scent.
Read below the reactions of theFashionSpot’s forum members:
“It looks like an AI-generated image,” immediately shrieked forum member ivc07.
“Hope this isn’t the final shot. It’s going to take a lot to do better than Charlize,” noted FAdS.
“I like Rihanna, but this just doesn’t work. She is just not a J’adore woman, maybe Poison. They chose her just because she sells. Her image has nothing to do with the spirit of this fragrance,” Sweet rus voiced.
“That wig is awful. Not impressed so far,” shared Hchloe.
Also not exactly enthralled with the end result was ghostwriter10549, commenting: “Ugh! It doesn’t look as promising as it should. Rihanna + Dior + Klein should be equal to iconic, sexy and timeless!”
“Nothing will EVER compare to Charlize Theron’s first J’adore campaign from 2004 by Nick Knight which will forever be etched in my memory forever. It was so sultry, so seductive, so expensive-looking and was such a mood. This massively pales in comparison. What a letdown!” sighed vogue28.
Feel the same way? Share your own thoughts as Rihanna as the face of Christian Dior J’adore and await the commercial (dropping September 1) over on theFashionSpot forums, here.