Fenty Release 5-19 Ad Campaign Kwame Brathwaite Jack Davidson

What unites people?
Armies? Gold? Flags?”
Nah.
Stories.
There’s nothing in the world more powerful than a good story. Nothing can stop it. No enemy can defeat it.
– Lord Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) Game of Thrones

In the recent closing of the global blockbuster ‘Game of Thrones,’ the wise character of Lord Tyrion Lannister explained that stories are in fact the single most powerful motivator of humankind. A truism well known to Fenty’s Rihanna, who is quickly leveraging that skill set to become one of fashion’s most emoting storytellers.

Teaming once again with Creative Director Giovanni Bianco and his crew at GB65, the first female brand creator at LVMH, has layered her second capsule entitled ‘Release 5-19,’ with stories based on the work of Kwame Brathwaite. A key documentarian of the Black is Beautiful movement of the 1960s and 70s, the son of Bajan parents (citizens of the United Kingdom whose ethnic origins lie in the Caribbean island of Barbados), Brathwaite became know as a documentarian of the life and culture of Harlem. His work inspired the launch of Essence magazine and he often captured public figures as Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley, James Brown and Muhammad Ali.

Starting with contemporary images of the collection by photographer Jack Davidson, Bianco and the team at GB65 infused Brathwaite’s images as chapters of the ad campaign. The result is ‘instant heritage’ building a novel that portrays Fenty with history and meaning rooted in the 60s. A story with power. And if the team of Rihanna, Bianco, and GB65 continues to deliver meaningful chapters, they will have a best seller on their hands.