Working research file: not for publication

Bhamini Khandige’s research examines smoking imagery in fashion, celebrity photographs and music videos, including documented examples involving Dua Lipa, Charli xcx and fashion shows. Each original source and image-use permission needs verification before publication.

Featured example from the ASH Wales research

Bhamini Khandige’s research (4 September 2026) documents Dua Lipa’s March 2025 Instagram photographs, including an image featuring a cigarette in front of a No Smoking sign. Her source table records no identified tobacco partnership for this example. The cultural image should not be described as paid promotion without further evidence.

Read the contemporary coverage referenced by the research.

Questions to investigate

What is the provenance of each image? Was any tobacco company commercially involved? How does the imagery circulate online? What does existing evidence say about smoking imagery and behaviour?

Important distinction: a celebrity smoking photograph is not automatically tobacco advertising.

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