BLINDED BY THE LIGHT
26th December 2024
Bella Hadid has shot her first campaign as global ambassador for Chopard with a collection that started life as a watch. Words by Laura McCreddie-Doak.
Young, beautiful and a little bit controversial, Bella Hadid has been signed by Chopard as its global ambassador. It’s a clever move for the brand Hadid is a formidable force in the fashion world. She has 61.3m followers on Instagram, has appeared on at least 26 Vogue covers internationally, was named Model of the Year by the British Fashion Council and has walked for numerous luxury fashion houses both pret-a-porter and couture. When she wears an item, such as cargo trousers or a corset, searches increase to record levels, in some cases 1,900%. After she wore the mini-platform Ugg boot, they immediately sold out after appearing on TikTok. Chopard is no doubt looking to capitalise on some of that magic with its new campaign.
It is shot by Charlotte Wales, a British photographer who has shot for Vogue, Dazed and the Face and done campaigns for such brands as Chanel, Cartier, and Hèrmes, and who is known for creating magical, whimsical atmospheres playfully suspended in gravity. This campaign features Hadid surrounded by an urban scene with night sky repeated in a play of mirrors with the geometry of the buildings reflected in the geometric forms of the jewellery.
Young, beautiful and a little bit controversial, Bella Hadid has been signed by Chopard as its global ambassador.
The original source of inspiration for the Ice Cube collection was a watch created by Caroline Schuefele, the brand’s creative director, in 1999, its case and dial constructed from tiny perfectly formed precious metal squares. This new line in the Ice Cube family is called “Sculpted by Light” possibly as a reference to the highly technical machining process, that was six years of R&D in the developing, that enables perfect milling that create taut lines on minute surfaces. The precious metal is machined to the nearest 100th of a centimetre, then hand-buffed to achieve the ultimate shine. The diamond setting is also done by hand, with each stone subtly faceted to achieve maximum light refraction.
“Bella is beautiful, elegant and strong – and we are excited to collaborate with her on this current project as she makes a triumphant return to the fashion stage,” says a Chopard spokesperson when asked why Hadid was the Maison’s next choice for its ambassador. “Did you see her in Cannes? She is simply stunning!” They are also confident that any controversy that may come with the model’s vocal support for Palestine won’t harm the brand. “The agreement with Bella for the current campaign was in place in 2022, well in advance of the current conflict in the Middle East, and we remain confident that Bella will well represent our Maison.”
That said, as Oscar Wilde once remarked, “there’s one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” A little controversy might be no bad thing for Chopard’s bottom line.
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