Rihanna has been living it up big time, like the queen she is, these past couple of weeks. First, Rihanna dropped her latest album (Anti) in the last week of January. Her honesty and beauty shines through more than any other album before. It’s her first album where she is creating what she wants and not just making songs for the radio, although one of her songs with Drake “Work” just so happens to be a radio hit. Needless to say, fans are loving it.
Then came her debut fashion line with Puma at New York Fashion Week on February 12. Fenty X Puma was much hyped over since Rihanna is the second A-lister who has now made it to NYFW. Although Kanye caused more hype over his Yeezy Season 3, Rihanna’s show was more intimate and adorned with close friends.
Kanye’s Yeezy Season 3 sold out Madison Square Garden in 10 minutes; full to the brim of both music and fashion enthusiasts. The public fashion show was livestreamed to over 20 million people. The 1 ½ hour show gave Kanye a platform to play his new album “The Life of Pablo” as well as showcasing his new fashion line. Although the shows were similar in fashion (both emphasizing oversized, baggy clothing), the atmospheres were different. Kanye with all his hype, loud music, and highly publicized event; Rihanna more intimate, dark, and rough.
Sitting in the front row of Rihanna’s show were close friends: Wale, Chris Rock, and Anna Wintour to name a few. Also in attendance were Naomi Campbell, Jeremy Scott, and Carlyne Cert de Dudzeele. Impressive variety of friends to say the least.
The models who walked in Riri’s show were the best of the best in today’s fashion world. The show opened with Lexi Boling sporting an oversized hoodie with thigh-high boots, Puma written across the top. Other models who walked included: Imaan Hammam, Stella Maxwell, Bella Hadid, Taylor Hill, Ruth Bell, Fei Fei Sun, Maria Borges, Bhumika Arora, and Aya Jones. Gigi Hadid closed the show with an oversized black hoodie and crystal garter belt.
The big question was, what would Rihanna wear to her debut fashion show? She wore an oversized sweatshirt (do you get the trend yet?) and stiletto ankle boots-no pants. We all know she isn’t afraid of showing a little skin.
The Fenty X Puma collection seemed to be inspired by Japanese street culture with some Gothic overtones. Rihanna wanted the clothes to be gender neutral and blurred the lines in her show. Many of the items were oversized and exaggerated in volume and proportions. Some of the looks were: a lace-up-jersey corset, a kimono robe, a tear away tricot track suit, dresses, bodysuits, jackets, hoodies, and crewnecks. Of course the line included shoes, such as: knee-high boots, stilettos, and chunky platforms.
The models had their hair painted and slicked back with white paint, while showcasing black lipstick to coordinate with the main theme of the line. Courtesy of Riccardo Tisci with Givenchy, large septum rings and cross adorned chains were worn by many of the models.
The line was very sexy with lots of skin, mixed with a bad-ass attitude. Some may find the line controversial with the amount of skin exposed and the over-emphasized street styles, but Rihanna has shown us all for the second time in the past couple of weeks that she is queen of creativity and bringing her vision to light.
The test will be if her line sells when it’s fully launched in September this year. If the crowd’s excitement is any indication to Rihanna’s success in the fashion world, Fenty X Puma will do exceptionally well.
