What Every Celebrity Designer Can Learn from Rihanna and Puma

What Rihanna got right about her Fenty x Puma Spring 2017 collection, what other celebrity designers can learn from her and the new collection, and more.

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Complex Original

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Yesterday, Rihanna presented her Spring 2017 Fenty x Puma collection during Paris Fashion Week at the Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild. Models walked down the runway in silk dresses, a chinoiserie romper suit, durag-like headpieces, corsets, a parka that was trimmed in ruffles, hoodies with super long sleeves, lace up sweatpants, creeper-soled boots, and stiletto mules in white, pink, green, and lilac hues. According to New York Times fashion critic Vanessa Friedman, Rihanna described the collections as: “If Marie Antoinette was going to the gym and needed something to wear.”

Unlike other celebrity fashion lines in the past, Rihanna's second collection was actually different from the first. It was also daring, though not revolutionary. Still, Rihanna has figured out the formula for what celebrity fashion lines should be: Make something that’s an extension of you. The beauty of Rihanna, and the projects she works on, is that every endeavor—music, fashion, or otherwise—is a direct reflection of her. It’s clear that she’s hands-on (the Tidal stream showed her prepping for the show and helping style models during the walkthrough) and it’s her vision that’s being executed.

Rihanna's Fenty x Puma Spring/Summer 2017 runway show

If you’ve kept up with the singer’s style, you’d know she has worn pieces similar to what was presented during the Spring 2017 runway show (she’s a big endorser of wearing sleepwear outside of her bedroom). Perhaps that’s why it felt like both male and female models were, in some bizarre way, transformed into the singer—one male model even wore a pink crop top. They were dressed like her and walked with her attitude.

Plenty of artists have collaborated with brands and “designed” clothing lines before. But Rihanna approaches her collection differently. She didn’t just slap her name on Puma suede sneakers or a hoodie. She signed a deal with Puma in 2014 that clearly gave her creative input, and designed two full collections that are quite a leap from what the sportswear brand is accustomed to— and were still true to herself and her sense of style. Wearing a piece of Fenty x Puma is like owning a piece of Rihanna. And isn’t that the point?

Rihanna's Fenty x Puma Spring/Summer 2017 runway show
Rihanna's Fenty x Puma Spring/Summer 2017 runway show

 

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