Dior "New J’adore" 2024 Ad Campaign

Review of Dior “New J’adore” 2024 Ad Campaign by Photographer Steven Klein with model Rihanna

After building the anticipation over the course of more than two months with announcements and teasers, Dior has fully released the first full campaign film featuring Rihanna as the face of its iconic J’Adore perfume. The star was captured by photographer Steven Klein.

The huge news broke in June that Rihanna was set to take up the mantle as the face of the fragrance, which has been iconically embodied by Charlize Theron since 2004. Theron’s golden goddess glow has been associated with J’Adore for nearly its whole existence, which has spanned a generation – so a changing of the guard is no small feat. But who could be better suited for this task than a talented, multifaceted, and beautiful icon of women’s empowerment like Rihanna? Her relationship with Dior fragrances has already been long established, as she starred in the house’s Secret Garden campaign in 2015. But in case anyone had any doubts about this new transition, Klein’s video ad should put them all to rest.

The concept and aesthetic largely maintain those of the Charlize Theron-era, with a few twists to emphasize the new age of Rihanna. The film opens as the star arrives with elegant nonchalance at the Palace of Versailles dressed in an all-black, demi-couture streetwear look that would be right at home in one of her music videos or on the VMAs red carpet. Then, she transforms into the Dior goddess with which we are familiar, radiating a honey-golden glow and a romantic, queenly serenity as she walks through the palace’s dramatically opulent halls and even across the surface of its reflecting pool.

In addition to being the second woman in 20 years to take the throne as the face of J’Adore, Rihanna is the first Black woman to do so – a major representation win. Luxury beauty and fragrance imagery has a huge impact on cultural perceptions, and that young Black girls will grow up seeing Rihanna as the pinnacle of beauty, grace, and power is something to celebrate.

When it comes to legacy luxury marketing with an iconic aesthetic, transformation can be a delicate balancing act. On the one hand, sticking too close to long-established motifs can make the imagery and messaging feel dated; on the other, changing too dramatically can feel insincere and risks alienating longtime customers. If anything, this campaign errs closer to the former, using a new face and threading in just the tiniest whiff of hip-hop flavor while playing everything else straight ahead. This feels like probably the right balance: easing into a new era by demonstrating that, while it may be embodied by a new distinctive and powerful woman, the spirit of J’Adore is eternal.