Victoria’s Vogue: Rihanna’s reign because the muse of trend

Rihanna can rarely be seen in a glance that isn’t “Phresh Off the Runway.” Past her acclaimed R&B music and entrepreneurial ventures in magnificence and attire, Robyn Rihanna Fenty brings trendsetting seems and inventive trend selections to the pink carpet and on a regular basis streetwear alike. Whereas her fashion has taken on totally different varieties all through the years, the frequent thread by way of all of it is her capacity to take dangers and redefine norms throughout trend together with her daring seems. 

The discharge of two-time platinum single “Pon de Replay” additionally marked Rihanna’s debut on the pink carpet in a halter crop high and low-rise boyfriend denims, matching the development of the low-rise bottoms fashionable within the early 2000s. She appeared in an identical outfit on the MTV VMAs that yr — early on, Rihanna’s fashion adopted traits of the time versus setting them. 

Rihanna’s trend stardom emerged with the discharge of her third studio album, “Good Lady Gone Unhealthy,” or across the time she started to work with stylist Mariel Haenn. Her outfits started to tackle an edgy and flirty aesthetic — a method that endures at the moment. Throughout the promotion and launch of this album in 2008, Rihanna may very well be seen in brief cropped hair and darker, edgier seems; for instance, her pairing of Balenciaga gladiator sandals with a black blazer and mini skirt for BET’s “106 & Park.”

“Rated R” conveyed extra somber and offended feelings than her earlier albums and highlighted her re-emergence after a publicized finish to an abusive relationship. For instance, the album started with an ominous introduction: “We are saying, welcome to the mad home!” One other music, “Russian Roulette,” incorporates despairing lyrics like “as my life flashes earlier than my eyes / I’m questioning if I’ll ever see one other dawn.” 

Her fashion on the time paralleled the tones on this album and mirrored Rihanna’s growing penchant for each males’s fits and the crossover between high fashion and excessive road — that means, manufacturers accessible to the general public with excessive value factors. Persevering with the edginess, Rihanna appeared with {a partially} shaved head, and donned a modern Dolce & Gabbana tuxedo with gloves and platform pumps for the 2009 Met Gala — a daring menswear-inspired look. In her every day life, she was additionally noticed in Soho sporting a graphic print gown from Christopher Kane and Topshop. 

Rihanna maintained her streetwear fashion by way of the early 2010s. Throughout her “Loud” tour, Rihanna wore a easy Givenchy t-shirt gown with knee-high Tom Ford snakeskin boots out and about in New York. She additionally started working with stylist Mel Ottenberg, who sought to showcase Rihanna’s artistic expression by way of her trend.

“My complete factor was she’s so stunning, she’s so excessive, she doesn’t want a lot stuff,” Ottenberg mentioned to the New York Occasions. “We will strip it down.”

Concurrently, she pulled out beautiful and glamorous outfits for the pink carpet, turning heads on the 2012 Met Gata in a crocodile-leather impressed backless robe designed by Miuccia. 

Additionally in 2012 was the discharge of her seventh album, “Unapologetic.” She started the album together with her music “Phresh Off the Runway” which chronicles her personal rise within the trend world. 

Certainly one of Rihanna’s most iconic seems was the sheer robe she wore to simply accept her 2014 Vogue Icon of the 12 months prize from the CFDA. This prize signified how a lot Rihanna dominated the style scene in that yr, from turning into the latest face of Balmain, to showing on her third Vogue cowl. The pinnacle of her design group, Adam Selman, created a show-stopping garment bedazzled with 230,000 Swarovski crystals — a glance that transcended and shattered trend norms on modesty and feminine movie star apparel.

Rihanna additionally turned a muse to the designers themselves. Olivier Rousteing of Balmain mentioned of his spring marketing campaign in 2014, that it was “celebrating my age, my inspiration, my love, Rihanna.”

This cultural second wouldn’t be the top of Rihanna’s groundbreaking outfits. Rihanna’s outfit to the 2015 Met Gala — themed “China: By way of the Wanting Glass” — weighed almost fifty kilos, the majority of it composed by an astonishing yellow fur coat from featured designer Guo Pei. For the 2017 Met Gala, Rihanna appeared in a gown fabricated from rigorously constructed rosettes from Rei Kawakubo. 

We will all recall her 2018 Met Gala outfit for the theme Heavenly Our bodies, when she served as co-host and appeared in a closely pope-inspired look. The singer wore a jewel-encrusted gown and gown set from Margiela, an identical papal mitre and bejeweled Louboutin heels. 

Rihanna nonetheless continues to shatter norms now. 

Most lately, she appeared in a Miu Miu mesh crystal set together with her child bump on present in Could 2022, surprising expectations of drab maternity clothes that cover the stomach. Her iconic streetwear fashion made waves when she appeared in a slate-blue ribbed knit Alaïa set that consisted of a crop high and a low-waisted maxi skirt to point out her being pregnant, which she accessorized with a blue camouflage Dior saddle bag. 

Different notable maternity outfits embrace her first reveal of her being pregnant to the press, decked in a Chanel pink puffer coat and not using a shirt and low-rise Vetements denims, and her look in Gucci’s Fall 2022 trend present in Milan, through which she wore dragon-embroidered denims, a latex crop high and a lavender fake fur coat.

Rihanna’s final album, “ANTI,” dropped in 2016. Since then, she has taken on her personal trend ventures, together with make-up model Fenty Magnificence and trend lingerie empire Savage x Fenty. Whereas many followers wish to see her return to music, Rihanna stays a popular culture icon — whether or not by way of her iconic outfits, or media presence by way of her manufacturers — and she is going to proceed to subvert expectations.