The coupled up Carters have done it again…
Source: Kevin Mazur / Getty
Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter are making history with their first campaign TOGETHER as the new faces of Tiffany & Co.
Bey shared a trio of images from their About Love campaign on her Instagram page.
The first image from the campaign was shared with WWD alongside an exclusive interview with Alexandre Arnault, Tiffany’s executive vice president of products and communications. You all may recall that Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy brand purchased the Tiffany brand in January 2021, before going on to purchase a 50% stake of Armand de Brignac champagne — aka Jay-Z’s famed Ace of Spades brand– in February. (Alexandre Arnault is also the son of LVMH founder Bernard Arnault.)
Of the decision to partner with the Carters, Arnault told WWD:
“She’s the best singer in the world, and he’s the best rapper in the world, hands down. And we’re the best jewelry company in the world, right? So we kind of had to marry ourselves together to produce this.”
The couple is set to share a “short film”/music video on September 15th which stars Beyoncé singing her own version of the famed ‘Breakfast At Tiffany’s’ song “Moon River” to Jay-Z as she sits at the piano.
“We’ve shared the film with a few people in the company, and they had tears in their eyes. They work for Tiffany’s so it’s biased, but still,” Arnault told WWD.
As we said, the couple is making history with this campaign and it turns out it’s in more than one way. For the first time, the brand is their famous Tiffany Diamond will appear in advertising. The spectacular 128.54 carat gemstone with 82 facets, was unearthed in South African in 1877 and previously worn by only three other women, Mary Whitehouse, Audrey Hepburn and Lady Gaga, making Bey the first Black woman to wear it.
Also prominently featured in the ad is an extremely pricy acrylic painting, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s “Equals pi,” which features the Tiffany & Co signature robin egg blue shade — the true motivation behind the brand purchased the painting, which has been part of a private collection since it was created in 1982!
“We don’t have any literature that says he made the painting for Tiffany,” Arnault told WWD of Basquiat’s work. “But we know a little bit about Basquiat. We know his family. We did an exhibition of his work at the Louis Vuitton Foundation a few years back. We know he loved New York, and that he loved luxury and he loved jewelry. My guess is that the [blue painting] is not by chance. The color is so specific that it has to be some kind of homage.
“As you can see, there is zero Tiffany blue in the campaign other than the painting,” Arnault added. “It’s a way to modernize Tiffany blue.”
The painting will go on display at Tiffany’s flagship Fifth Avenue boutique in New York City once renovation there is complete.
Arnault also gave WWD details about the back story on how the Carters came to be the new faces of the Tiffany & Co. brand, describing how he pitched Jay-Z the idea earlier this year with hopes of creating a message built around love and hope following the global pandemic that would involve symbolism surrounding New York City, Basquiat and the Carter’s marriage.
“We at Tiffany stand for many things, love being at the forefront…. And they embody modern love, in my opinion,” Arnault said, mentioning their nearly two decades together, their sometimes public “ups and downs” — and their prolific, unprecedented careers, ranging from Beyoncé’s Ivy Park activewear line with Adidas to Jay-Z’s recent partnership with LVMH to market Ace of Spades Champagne. “If you think about iconic power couples in the world, they are number one, at least in my mind. It’s a really proud moment for everyone at Tiffany.
“We wanted them to be seen as no one has ever seen them before. We wanted to go behind the scenes and try to capture those intimate moments that are so difficult to see and find,” he continued. “You’ll see the magic of them loving each other. It’s quite incredible. Also, their daughter was on set and she appears in one of the videos. You see the special bond that they all have together, which is amazing.”
We’re DYING to see these videos. Bey collab’d with “Black Is King” co-director Emmanuel Adjei again for the music video. The couple were photographed for the ads by Mason Poole at the Orum House in Los Angeles and y’all already know June Ambrose styled Hov in that Givenchy tux!
Also shoutout to Nakia Rachon who killed that stunning messy chic updo for Bey.
Before we forget — probably the BEST part of the partnership with the Carters is the philanthropic effort as a result of their involvement; Tiffany is committing $2 million for scholarship and internship programs for HBCU’s.