Rihanna is an international pop star, actress, entrepreneur, beauty mogul—not to mention fashion icon. As a multi-platinum artist, she dares to take risks in style, and her remarkable fashion sense has brought on a massive influence across all genres and sub-genres.
There’s never a dull statement that’s missed from Rihanna through her dressing—from a yellow Guo Pei gown in the 2015 Met Gala to the pink unbuttoned Chanel puffer while announcing her pregnancy, she does it in style. Read on to check out these 7 of the most head-turning Rihanna outfits.
1. Baggy Clothes
Oversized is a breath of fresh air after years of body-con fashion. This style does not squeeze; it takes up space visually with wide shoulders, wide trousers, and relaxed blazers, giving the general silhouette of a look that shouts ‘opulence’ and makes its wearer feel powerful and royal. From mom jeans to boxy tees, oversized clothing provides that space for self-expression without intimidation from the condescending stares of others.
For so long, it was associated with grunge clothing and hip-hop culture due to the large sizes of those sets, but in 2010, when the street wear fashion was boomed and celebrities like Kanye West or Rihanna were seen flaunting this look on an everyday basis, oversized clothing finally saw its breakthrough. From big jeans and baggy shirts, it now stretched to everything from dresses and coats to accessories.
To pull off this oversized trend really effectively, it’s crucial to find well-fitted pieces. Too much oversized clothing can leave you looking frumpy and shapeless; if you get the balance just right, however, oversized looks can be great means of self-expression whilst remaining stylish. Adding in accessories like bucket hats or chunky, statement jewelry will only help this look along.
2. Faux Fur
For quite a while now, Rihanna has been a trendsetter, and she does not cease pushing the barriers of fashion forward. Starting from her inaugural 2011-era dress by Jean Paul Gaultier, which literally left viewers speechless, she is always game for an outfit that pushes boundaries and makes a statement while parading around in public. Rihanna has been called an advocate for the naked dressing trend, which this year makes the fast move from the red carpet (think Cher in that iconic cellophane dress that showed off her undergarments) to everyday street style. Just look at what Rihanna wears when she’s making public appearances or taking part in public performances!
It’s also been boosted by Barbados-born Gabriela Hearst and her love of faux fur, seen in her giant puffer styles and fuzzy green two pieces. Her looks have graced runways across the spectrum, from Gabriela Hearst to Ulla Johnson, and found a place within cold-weather closets ripe with knit turtlenecks and button-down shirts.
Rihanna has led a lot of trends in fashion that are her own inventions or, at any rate, for which she played a huge role in the popularization, including gorpcore, a combination of technical outdoor pieces with urbane flashes, and retro-futurism, a combination of vintage moods with future-forward details. Stay ahead of the metallic and geometric curve by ensuring you buy this kind of fabric for the year.
3. Naked Dresses
Stylistically, many of the skin-revealing trends that dominated 2022’s red carpet fashions are all starting to look a touch passé now; feathers, trains, and flounces are included. But there’s one major trend that’s still holding on: the naked dress. Usually body-hugging and virtually quite short of some drapery, this always seems to involve skin-toned fabrics, occasionally sheer or apparently see-through; though, this is one look in the past considered important enough to be deemed iconic.
Dua Lipa made a sensational entrance when she brought forth her look on the chain dress trend earlier in March. Dressed in a metallic Versace chain-mail adorned with colorful butterflies, Dua made a statement on fashion’s current state of play, which led searches for chain dresses to increase 18% following her look on Lyst.
The pop sensation Rihanna has mostly rocked the short and long versions of naked dresses and the in-betweeners, i.e. pantaleggings, with it. A week back, when Founder of Fenty, Rihanna, donned an unusual combination, pairing Balenciaga snake-skin miniskirt with brown fishnet pantaleggings from the same brand, the look got applaud not only from her fans but also from the fashion bigwigs.
Other celebs have updated the trend, too: Doja Cat wore it to the iHeartRadio Awards, Heidi Klum graced the red carpet in an elegant gold mesh dress that doubled as lingerie with safety pin details. For a more casual take, Teyana Taylor and Cardi B sported bodysuits with sheer mesh panels and cutouts, while Cryus provides a minimalist take with her metal chain dress.
Pregnancy Style
There is a lot of commendable fashion sense from Rihanna, but it’s her style as a soon-to-be mother that has been so groundbreaking. Thanks to Rihanna and her choices in clothing that seem to push the envelope even during pregnancy, more women are moving away from the clothing pegged at one time or another to pregnancy—mom-to-be clothing—to more modern rocker-inspired looks such as cropped tops that show off bumps and mesh bodysuits celebrating curves.
Rihanna has also taken to embracing lingerie-as-outerwear in quite an unconventional take. For one recent appearance, she donned an unconventional dress that has her wearing an oversized gray wool coat as outerwear, teamed with punky-edged Balenciaga fishnet pantaboots to give the ensemble its punky flair.
Rihanna was also seen all through the news in her soon-to-be-pregnant fashion at the Heavenly Bodies exhibit at the Met Gala, wearing her black leather lace minidress and white tuxedo-inspired Alexis Mabille Couture gown by Alexis Mabille Couture. To the fourth annual Diamond Ball of Rihanna, she showed up outfitted in a matching black Givenchy Haute Couture turtleneck gown, overlay skirt, and papal mitre, complemented with Chopard jewels for a look that literally shone as bright as a diamond.
5. Boudoir Dresses
Rihanna’s not just an adored music icon and business mogul; she also happens to hold the title of King Midas in the fashion world. Anything she dons turns into a trend—truly the horse’s mouth fashion-wise. From space buns to chokers and thong bras, probably her most striking outfits are in the form of boudoir dresses, from lacy designs with tulle layers all the way to sheer pink gowns, nothing has ever missed their surprising factor.
Rihanna made her 2005 Z100 Jingle Ball debut in this classy low-rise look, combining a cropped tank top and thong bra with a long skirt printed with crotchet patterns, a Telfar zip-up jacket, and a ton of extra large chains from Telfar, to very much set an early precedent for today’s popular exposed thong trend.
Rihanna took naked dress to new dimensions with an Adam Selman creation that had a high waistline, should gloves and a hair scarf, and protrusion. For the Savage X Fenty show 2022, she rocked another silver set; no one does boudoir gowns better than Rihanna—look at some of her top moments below!
6. Puma
Rihanna has never been one for conventional fashion choices—and that likely won’t change anytime soon. She wears whatever suits her. That’s the reason you can easily notice her on the red carpet wearing a Comme des Garcons gown or a pink, body-skimming slip from Azzedine Alaa. With that, Rihanna is really good at shape-shifting. You can see her in an endless DI$COUNT UNIVER$E swimsuit dress with a XXL Adidas jersey or in a backwards snapback cap paired with an amorphous tracksuit. Pairing barely-there, body-skimming dresses with the best of them are just part of her go-to for red-carpet events or nights out in the city.
The Fenty x Puma collections she made were full of RiRi’s characteristic play with streetwear, and it worked massively from their first outing. Black lipsticks to lace sneakers, bedazzled Awake NY hoodies stone-adorned—the collections with Puma made most people reconsider what was okay to wear as actual streetwear.
Now the rapper has dropped her classic Creeper sneaker silhouette in a new design dubbed the Fenty x Puma Creeper Phatty Earth Tone and updated design. Alongside the rest of her collection, this will include premium nubuck upper, a thicker gum sole as a nod to basketball culture, and definitely, these kicks are poised to be hits right off the bat, as well as her Fenty x PUMA Avanti Football Silhouette done in buttery soft vintage leather material with debossed gold-foil FENTY and PUMA CAT Logos embossed onto its fold over tongue.
7. Jewelry
Rihanna is one of the most undeniable style sensations across the globe, and lately many of her major looks have run parallel to the headlines. Whether slipping into bold boudoir dresses or barely-there, see-through sheaths, the chanteuse has proved that she knows how to take wardrobe risks and has made trends in promoting the ideas of empowerment and freedom.
Rihanna’s style has truly evolved over the progression of her career. And then came an asymmetrical dress, spiced up with accessories that were as daring as they were luxurious: diamond earrings with dangling diamond drops from Lynn Ban, black diamond cone-shaped rings from Pristine Jewels, and Pristine Jewels in free form extra-specialness. We surely relish all of this, and we relish all those fine points that make Rihanna stand out; we’re so here for it.
Well, of course, nothing Rihanna does is ever halfway. The singer had in mind to wear not one, not two, but three vintage diamond designs from New York heritage jeweler Joseph Saidian & Sons; thus, she revived the lost fashion trend of matching her crimson jumpsuit ensemble with brooches to a tee.
From chic new clothes to accessories, one never knew what stylish item Rihanna would step out in from one show to the next at New York Fashion Week. Her Loewe crystal flats and Fenty x Puma sneakers were game changers. And trust us, Rihanna is one to wear nothing less than game-changing pieces.
Rihanna is not an icon when it comes to music but a major trendsetter in the fashion world. She has influenced many styles in fashion and changed people’s perspectives on modern-day fashion. She is known for making bold, fearless choices, always pushing the boundaries of style and pulling high fashion down to the streets to make every outfit a statement. This article covers seven fashion trends set by Rihanna’s distinctive style, underscoring how her enterprising approach toward fashion took current trends to a different level and inspired plenty of people. Grasping these trends can help one to understand how Rihanna’s fashion sense redefines the traditional style norms and reshapes them with new standards in the industry.
Making a Statement With Bold Colors and Prints
One major high fashion trend adopted by Rihanna is the bold usage of bright colors and Prints. She often sports vibrant hues and striking patterns that really put her center in the middle of any crowd. Neon greens to deep reds, Rihanna’s fashion does not lack color. These bold colors come hand in hand with daring prints, among which one can count varieties ranging from animal patterns to geometrics and florals. Not only will this draw attention, but also set a very broad precedent for the ways one might carry vivid shades with an element of confidence. By incorporating bold colors and prints into her wardrobe, Rihanna challenges others to do the same with their fashion choices and step away from more muted or conventional styles.
Representing High-Fashion Streetwear
Rihanna has definitely played her role in popularizing the high-fashion streetwear movement through the combination of very expensive and luxurious fabrics with casual, urban clothing. She combines luxury with everyday wear, which has fostered a new fashion dialogue—one of high fashion meeting street culture. This has been a trend of oversized jackets and distressed jeans, paired with statement sneakers, mixing comfort with style. Rihanna’s collaborations with Fenty and Puma have further stamped her role in this revolution. Wearing streetwear in the high-fashion context, Rihanna makes the claim that style is accessible yet extravagant, thus persuading a great number of her fans to fall in line with this versatile, trendy style.
Redefining Gender Norms in Fashion
Rihanna is one of the big stars who has been known to challenge traditional gender norms through fashion. Tailored suits with plunging necklines and oversized blazers worn with bare legs are but two examples of how she frequently straddles that line between masculine and feminine. Her approach incorporates traditionally male attire into female wardrobes and vice versa, creating a much more fluid and inclusive fashion landscape. How bold she is in testing the boundaries of gender makes people comfortable with a wider style spectrum and views fashion as such an expression of ways against traditional boundaries of gender.
Minimalist Chic Raised
While most people think that Rihanna focuses on loud and over-the-top outfits, she kills it at minimalist chic. Clean lines, subtle silhouettes, and understated elegance make up her minimalist style. The trend is characterized by colors in neutrals such as blacks, whites, and beiges, mixed with lean and modern designs. Rihanna shows that minimalism need not only be plain but also stylish and elegant. Her ability to turn any simple outfit into a high-fashion statement dictates the versatility of minimalist style in fashion today; yes, sometimes less is more.
Incorporating Futuristic Elements
Rihanna’s style is often a display of futurism—innovative designs combined with futuristic, leading-edge materials. Her wardrobe includes metallic fabrics, innovative textures, and unconventional forms that most of the time really push the limits of conventional clothing. Whether she simply shines in her silver gown or has been carved into an outfit with details that were a surprise in the first place, Rihanna’s style screams of futurism and the fact that she is always ready to experiment with new trends and technologies. This approach allows designers and all fashion enthusiasts to dabble in materials and designs that the future of fashion will be made of, all while thinking forward.
Statement Accessories
Rihanna is one of the celebrities very well known for her statement accessories. Whatever she puts on—big earrings, bold necklaces, and hats—she never wears just a simple accessory to complete and define her outfit. These statement pieces largely serve as focal points in her outfits, drawing attention and creating a feel of being personified in her overall look. Rihanna’s way of accessorizing inspires one to view accessories as a way of expressing oneself and as tools that, with much ease, transform simple outfits into totally unforgettable fashion statements. By focusing on accessorizing, she shows how far these elements can alter the general style.
Advocacy for Inclusive Fashion
Rihanna’s role in influencing personal style translates into inclusive fashion. With her brand, Fenty, she champions this wide range of sizes and styles, proving diversity and inclusivity in the different body types and ethnicities. Her dedication to having fashion accessible for all has raised the bar on the beauty industry in relation to the necessity of representing people and being inclusive. She makes other designers and brands realize a greater vision of addressing a more significant market with their collections and thus creating a world of fashion that is much more varied and fair.
Conclusion
Rihanna’s style has no doubt created some trends that are very inspirational towards fashion. From her bold use of color and prints to her marriage between high fashion and streetwear, Rihanna exudes a fearlessness towards fashion that inspires many. She challenges the norms of gender, minimal chic, futuristic elements, statement accessories, and advocates for inclusive fashion—making her a trendsetter. By embracing these trends, you will have further insight into how Rihanna’s fashion style is rewriting modern fashion with creativity all around the globe. Her impact on fashion shows that styles are potent and ever-changing fashion trends.
