Erykah Badu and Riccardo Tisci discuss their Givenchy Collaboration

In a recent interview with “V” magazine, Erykah Badu opens up about her latest collaboration with Riccardo Tisci of GIVENCHY on being the muse for his Spring 2014 campaign and the impact music has on fashion. Check out a few highlights from their interview below.

V: Erykah, did you know Riccardo before you got the call to appear in the ads?

ERYKAH BADU I just got a call from him. There’s not a big backstory to it. Unless you want to include that I’m a big fan of his work.

RICCARDO TISCI I knew her as a musician and an artist. And she is a real artist. We had crossed paths before once in New York but never really knew each other. I asked her and she said yes. I was very, very happy. I wanted to represent the collection with style and elegance and I think she is perfect for that.

V: In addition to being an incredible artist, you’re also quite a fashion magpie. Are clothes another mode of expression for you?

ERYKAH BADU It’s all art to me. I just really enjoy expressing myself artistically in any genre. Whether it be music or cooking or hair. Costume, makeup, fashion. It’s just fun exploring all of the little things inside of my head and seeing them manifest. I would liken fashion or styling to putting a lump of clay in the middle of the table and carving away. And there’s something underneath. Layering and silhouettes. A pair of earrings. I think it comes down to my favorite things and how they come together. That’s fun when that happens.

RICCARDO TISCI And this is one of the great things that drew me to Erykah. Aside from being quite talented, and the queen of the ’90s. I was thinking of someone who was quite elegant and urban. She’s always been this way. She has a very good sense of style, she’s great with jewelry. Her look can be quite feminine with the turban and a dress but also masculine with flat shoes or trainers. It all works.

V: There have been a few musicians—Rihanna, Miley, Gaga—appearing in fashion campaigns this year. Why do you think that is?

ERYKAH BADU I think that we keep each other moving creatively, especially those that have been in this game awhile. To see our fellow artists like Riccardo and Donatella choose musicians only shows that we are all connected. My creative song is married to Riccardo’s creative eye, perhaps because I can sing a lot of songs about these designs and ideas that he has. I think it’s just the spirit of where we are as a whole tribe of humans. Visual expresses music expresses theme expresses theory. Everything goes together to more broadly express what the artist is trying to say. There’s no way I can express what I’m trying to say without the help of some visual artist completing my sentences. I think right now we’re completing each other’s sentences, artistically.