Adrianna Rochester – General Assignment Writer
Twice a year for a whole week established designers, models, as well as upcoming designers and models get to showcase their talents with personalized fashion shows tailored to display a variety of clothes on the runway. Fashion Week kicked off in New York—like it always does—where designers like Alexander Wang, Marc Jacobs and Kanye West present their latest clothing lines at industry only events.
West debuted a fourth Yeezy fashion show in New York, where some models walked out on a triangular runway and others stood in the grass. Despite a few shoe malfunctions, some would say the show was a success, because singer Teyana Taylor and model Chanel Imen closed the runway. Like previous Yeezy collections, this years continued the same stylistic theme of solid colors of tans, greens, white and black. However, mega super star and upcoming designer, Rihanna dominated NYFW, when she hosted pop-ups– a day before the official start of fashion week—in Manhattan, New York and Los Angeles, Cali.
Rihanna has been working extensively with Puma, releasing a “Fenty x Puma” clothing line that has already launched a series of collections such as “Fenty x Rihanna Creepers” and “Fenty x Rihanna Trainers”. The looks she featured for NYFW consisted of over-sized hoodies, thigh-high boots and avant-garde streetwear. Unlike her previous lines with Puma, Rihanna kept her colors simple. Rihanna’s high-end fashion line consisted of black and white attire with a punk rock edge to her active wear with laces stitched into the sides of the sweats that can be removed leaving the sides open—a look that was consistent with other items in the line.
Once NYFW was over it was Paris, France’s turn to showcase designer’s spring 2017 clothing lines. Once again Rihanna stole the show releasing part two of her Fenty by Puma collection, which embodied Marie Antoinette at the gym with dramatic and exaggerated clothing. This time her looks were opposite of those she displayed during NYFW. Her looks in Paris added a pop of color as models walked down the runway wearing clothes consisting of shades of pink, olive green and white. The singer also introduced new slides, a 2.0 version of her furry ones she did last season and a new creeper-like sneaker. Her Paris debut included items such as lace rompers, fanny packs, lace head scarves and more hoodies and sweats. Unlike her NYFW collection, the singer’s showcase was brighter in terms of mood with bows on gym bags and clothes, see-through camisoles and some floral designers on a few items.
If anyone desired to purchase some items, particularly from Rihanna’s clothing line they might run into one of two problems. One, due to the huge demand and popularity of her brand, items sell out very quickly even when announcement via social media are made informing consumers that items will be restocked. Two, while some items are affordable other are definitely on the high-end side of fashion—price wise with some items costing close to 300 dollars.
Nonetheless, even though Fashion Week ends with Milan’s week long fashion jubilation, so far Rihanna holds the crown as the queen of fashion. Both lines encompasses the singer’s personality as one collection gives you the “rude gyal” punk rock side of the singer, the other exudes a dramatic yet simplistic womanly side she also has.
Photo Credit: Adrianna Rochester – General Assignment Writer
