Beyonce has hired several student figure skaters from New York City to appear in a new advert for her Ivy Park clothing collection.
The 36-year-old R&B superstar selected a group of young women from Figure Skating in Harlem – a non-profit organization set up to help girls of color achieve in education by learning the skills and discipline required to dance on the ice – to model items from her Spring 2018 athleisure line. Beyonce chose the models because she wants to highlight the incredible work the organization does and reward the girls for their efforts.
Speaking to Vogue.com, Sharon Cohen – who is the CEO Figure Skating in Harlem and founded the project in 1997 – said: “We believe that, given access to artistic sports like figure skating, girls will soar in all areas of their lives and be better equipped to accomplish their dreams. Beyonce is a fierce, authentically powerful woman of color. She inspires young women and girls globally who look just like her to do the exact same – to be fearless, free, and proud of themselves.”
Cohen admits when she told the girls that Beyonce was going to use them in her latest campaign for Ivy Park – which she launched in conjunction with British high street retailer Topshop in early 2016 and named after her six-year-old daughter Blue Ivy – they were totally stunned.
She shared: “They were in shock and over-the-top excited. They idolize her, and she sees them.”
The 60-second promo was released across all of the Ivy Park social media channels on Wednesday (18.04.18) and shows the girls praising their skating moves on the ice and talking about why they are passionate about the sport whilst wearing Ivy Park sweatshirts, coats, leggings, and socks.
Mother-of-three Beyonce – who headlined the Coachella Festival in California last weekend – is doing more and more philanthropy work in recent years.
This week, she announced she would be donating $100,000 in scholarship funds to Xavier University, Wilberforce University, Tuskegee University and Bethune-Cookman University, all of which are historically known for teaching African American students.
