Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
NEW YORK, United States — Rihanna comes across as so fearless, it's hard to imagine what exactly would frighten her. She gave us an idea before her Fenty x Puma presentation on Sunday night when she admitted, "I'm obsessed by things I can't do." Two of those obsessions — motocross and surfing — were the foundation of her new collection. "They suggest things that are pretty much impossible to me," she added. But she faced up to the impossible with a show that included motocross riders spiraling off ramps into the upper reaches of the Park Avenue Armory while the audience bit back screams below. One way to own your fears! For the finale, the woman herself rode pillion round the arena. She claimed she might actually be ready for a little motocross. And surfing? "That's a whole other beast," she said dubiously. (One maillot boasted the word DROWNING.)
The clothes themselves were an expert distillation of extremely high performance sportswear. "Motocross and surf are two worlds that usually don't ever connect," Rihanna said. "And that's what I found so brilliant, to bring them together." Surfing demands streamlines, motocross calls for protection, but both are based on body-consciousness. And both offer endless opportunities to toy with hardware: zippers, tags, buckles, clips. The singer insisted, "It's not as crazy sexy as it's been," but that wasn't so convincing in the face of all the peekaboos and lace-ups and strategic slashes. Still, there was a slouchy, tomboy-ish quality to a lot of the womenswear which seemed like a pretty accurate mirror of the way Rihanna herself likes to dress. (She was her own best model on Sunday night.)
Footwear x Puma ranged from high-heeled flip flops to fluoro Frankenstein trainers to a fabulous leather wader-cum-thighboot hybrid which looked a little dangerous. In other words, absolutely Rihanna-ready. She was, by the way, mentioning bungee-jumping as her next challenge.
