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Priyanka Chopra — musician, actress and former Miss World — has been named a Guess Girl, the first woman of Indian descent to be so honored. She will appear in a number of the fashion brand’s print ads for the upcoming Christmas season shot by a seemingly unlikely photographer: Bryan Adams.
“I didn’t know he was a photographer,” says Chopra, who was on her way to India for the release of her newest film, Krrish 3. “I was like, ‘Wait, what? The jeans and guitar guy?’ He’s a huge celebrity in India. He comes almost every year and plays sold-out concerts. We love him, we know all his songs and all the lyrics.”
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With Adams’ photography skills and Chopra’s looks, there’s no reason the Indian beauty shouldn’t soon join the pantheon of Guess Girl luminaries, including Claudia Schiffer, Adriana Lima, Anna Nicole Smith and Kate Upton, who have become household names. But Chopra could surpass her predecessors with her triple threat of singing, acting and modeling.? ?
Chopra, who is co-managed by Anjula Acharia-Bath and Troy Carter, is slated to release her third single in December or January on Interscope, Desi Hits and producer RedOne’s 2101 label. RedOne is producing her debut full-length and worked on her first two singles, which featured collaborations with will.i.am and Pitbull. About the new track Chopra will only say, “It’s a different kind of song from what I’ve done before.”
Both Guess and Chopra say the possibility for further collaboration between the fashion brand and the singer’s music is open. “We didn’t necessarily approach Priyanka from a music standpoint,” says Amber Tarshis, SVP marketing for Guess North America, “but we’ve become such fans of where she’s going from a music direction and as she’s releasing her album, we’re looking to do more with her as the album comes out.” Meanwhile, Guess will stream Chopra’s music and play her Guess campaign video across their 1,700 stores worldwide.
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Working with a musician is not unprecedented for Guess. The fashion house partnered last year with Tiesto on a limited-edition capsule collection that included the Tiesto NYT LYF watch, which became the brand’s all-time best-selling timepiece. Guess expanded its relationship with Tiesto to sponsor his tour and club nights.
The Guess advertising campaign with Chopra will run in the U.S. in the December issues of magazines including Harper’s Bazaar, Paper, Nylon, ELLE, Marie Claire, WWD Collections, Hollywood Reporter and WSJ Magazine. Though the brand declined to give details on its spend for Chopra’s campaign, Guess spent $41.7 million on measured ad spending in 2012, according to Kantar Media. The overwhelming majority of that spend was on magazines and print, where Guess spent $37.1 million.
Chopra says she is currently working with a number of different brands, including Nokia, Pepsi and Garnier. She also is seen by millions every Thursday night as her song “In the City” with will.i.am is the official song of this season’s NFL Thursday Night Football.
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All of which raises the question of how Chopra came to be the next Guess Girl. “It happened within three seconds of meeting Paul [Guess CEO Paul Marciano],” she says of sitting down with the Guess co-founder in his office. “He just said, ‘Oh my God, you’re a Guess Girl, I have to shoot you. Get your management to call me.’ ”
At the time, Chopra confesses, she “didn’t quite understand the magnitude of it. Being the first Indian and the diversification of a global brand is something that makes me so proud. And with Guess being such an iconic brand associated with such beautiful iconic women over the years, it’s amazing to be a part of that legacy.”
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