What’s the significance of a snowflake? Hope. Last Wednesday was the lighting of the historic UNICEF Snowflake, an emblem of hope, peace and compassion for children around the world at the Grand Army Plaza in New York. Songstress Rihanna, spokes model for the print campaign for Gucci’s Heart Tattoo Collection, and Frida Giannini, Gucci’s Creative Director, were in attendance at the lighting ceremony, as well as the hosts of the private cocktail party held at Gucci’s 5th Avenue flagship. The Gucci Group will be donating 25 percent of their white Heart Tattoo Collection sales from stores around the world to UNICEF, from November 19, 2008 to January 31, 2009. The double page ad campaign shows Rihanna perched on a large suspended silver ring holding an exotic skin dual-handle satchel tote, and another with her holding an exotic skin messenger bag, striking a beautiful come hither pose. It is a wonderful thing to see someone as young as Rihanna being so charity focused. She also participated earlier this year in the T-shirt campaign for DAA with H&M. The T-shirt campaign had her along with other celebrities, design tees for the store for Designers Against AIDS foundation. Now if we could get the other young songbirds to do the same, think of how much better their lives would be and the world would be for it.

The avid music loving Frida Giannini, Creative Director for Gucci, has tapped Lil' Ms. Sunshine, Rihanna, to be the spokesmodel for their fall advertisement highlighting its collaboration with UNICEF (United Nation’s Children’s Fund).

The ads were shot by the in-demand husband and wife team, Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, in Paris, with the ads slated to premiere in December issues of fashion magazines. “So when we decided to dedicate a full ad campaign, more than just creating products, to really come out and show our commitment to UNICEF, we wanted someone with a strong personality,” Giannini said post-photoshoot, during her interview with WWD.

And of course we all know well, unless you have been living somewhere in the universe where fashion does not matter, that Rihanna loves rocking Gucci. She wore the emerald green criss-cross neckline gown with plunging back belted to the “A Night to Benefit Raising Malawi and UNICEF” benefit, a patterned belted mini at the Kids' Choice Awards and has been photographed all over the world carrying countless Gucci handbags styles.

So it would seem that this match, cemented after Rihanna’s rendition of Umbrella at the Malawi fund-raiser, is a match made in heaven, and a very worthy cause will benefit from the union.