Tyler Mitchell Shoots Simone Rocha X H&M at Great Dixter House & Gardens AOC Fashion

Simone Rocha and H&M have released the official campaign film and images for the upcoming Simone Rocha x H&M collection, available at hm.com and in selected stores on March 11. Shot by Tyler Mitchell, in his signature optimistic style, the campaign images and video create a story of joy, friendship and inclusivity.and an ode to moments of openness and congregation in a post-COVID and more racially-interactive world.

The talents featured in the campaign are dynamic individuals whose skills, outlook and unique beauty are celebrated and admired by Rocha. Actors Daisy Edgar-Jones and Micheal Ward, both rising stars, appear alongside Royal Ballet Principal Dancer Francesca Hayward, the artist Faye Wei Wei, the captivating models Mouchette Bell and Aramish Mangi, and the pioneering musician Kelsey Lu – who also provides the beautiful soundtrack for the campaign film.

Also featured are figures who are often present in Rocha’s world, whether in her shows or images, such as the model Tess McMillan and sisters, Adwoa Aboah and Kesewa Aboah, the former an activist and model, the latter an artist and model.

Jay-Z is in deal-making mode, fresh off selling 50% of his Armand de Brignac champagne company — better known as Ace of Spades — to LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. Pundits underscore that reality that the entertainment industry has been hit hard by the pandemic.

“I think Roc Nation will be fine,” Jay-Z said in an interview last month about the sale of Armand de Brignac. “Like all entertainment companies, it will eventually recover. You just have to be smart and prudent at a time like this.”

Jay-Z still heads Roc Nation, a music and sports talent agency that represents Rihanna. Roc Nation acquired two California cannabis companies in November, and surely Jay-Z wants to advance that business.

Will Bernard Arnault eventually be in the cannabis business? AOC bets “probably’. Watching Arnault and his children at the center of a growing wheel of connections into the global community of Black artists and entrepreneurs is quite fascinating.

Without Telling the World How Great He Is, Jay-Z Gets A Seat on Square Board of Directors

The Financial Times reminds us that it was Jay-Z, not Kanye West, who was declared the first hip-hop billionaire in 2019. The factoid is interesting because after Kanye’s summer-long Twitter brouhaha about being God, damning Democrats, wanting to tear down Planned Parenthood and — oh yes — getting his masters back, along with a seat on the GAP board of directors, the much quieter and deliberate business person Jay-Z had his masters already — and now has a major board seat of influence.

Jay-Z is putting that notch on his belt as well, with Thursday’s announcement that Square, the mobile payments company founded and led by Jack Dorsey [also the co-founder and CEO of Twitter] has acquired a controlling interest in Tidal, the streaming music service owned by Jay-Z and other artists including Beyoncé, Jay-Z’s wife, and Rihanna in a $297 million deal.

Jay-Z will join the board of Square. Also of interest, as reported by the New York Times, Dorsey and Jay-Z mutually endowed a Bitcoin trust in February to support development in India and Africa.

In another piece of this growing Jay-Z awesome financial puzzle, the mogul has invested in Perch Credit, CEO Michael Broughton and CTO Ayush Jain. Perch Credit is aimed to help underserved communities boost their credit scores by reporting recurring payments like rent and subscriptions like Netflix, Hulu, and Spotify to the credit agencies.

Broughton, 22, spoke about Perch Credit securing the co-sign from JAY-Z’s Marcy Venture Projects in an interview with Yahoo Finance. “Yeah, definitely not easy. I came from a background where I was never even exposed to venture capital or working with investors. And it wasn’t until YC and meeting Michael that I really started learning how to get engaged, how to start talking to VCs and start raising capital. I got told no over 100 times before we got our first check.”

AOC already knows where Jay-Z’s and Jack Dorsey’s alliance will go, based on our own updated education of finance and credit trends last week. Stay tuned for part two. ~ Anne