Barbadian superstar Rihanna, feted as much
for her daring style as her vocal chords, closed out day two of New York
Fashion Week by unveiling a debut collection for Puma that put the sexy into
sweatpants.
Following in the footsteps of music star Kanye West, who on Friday
booked
out Madison Square Garden to parade his Yeezy Season 3, “RiRi’s” first
catwalk
collaboration with the German brand has been one of the most hotly
anticipated
celebrity-link up of fashion week.
It was a high-energy catwalk presentation that blended the singer’s
love of
sportswear with sexy: thigh-high black boots, hoodies, thongs and sports
jackets turned into strapless dresses zipped down the front.
The palette was monochrome: black and white and the music backdrop
relatively restrained giving pride of place to the clothes — marketed as
“Fenty X Puma.”
A photo posted by badgalriri (@badgalriri) on Feb 12, 2016 at 7:38pm PST
Rihanna for Puma
Los Angeles model of the moment Gigi Hadid was transformed into a
vampish
vision in black, draped in an oversized black textured hoodie as she stomped
down the mirrored set adorned with tree trunks.
Hoodies were re-imaged as shearling, with oversized baggy boots and
shearling backpacks. There was a Gothic twist and at the end, Rihanna
appeared
for a brief wave.The catwalk was broadcast simultaneously on her Facebook page, where
it was
viewed more than half a million times in just two hours.
It was a more refined affair over at Jason Wu, the wunderkind best known
for dressing Michelle Obama, who presented a sophisticated collection
designed
to cultivate loyalty from illustrious clients.The Canadian-Taiwanese designer entitled “immaculate” the collection
of his
eponymous label at Fashion Week, where he is also making an appearance as
artistic director of womenswear at Hugo Boss.
There was an impeccably cut navy dress with a round neck, a black dress
with plunging decolletage embellished with a blue fur collar and a
long-sleeve
knit dress with bare shoulders and a plunging neckline.
“The idea is about these immaculately dressed women. I wanted to address
the idea of the wardrobe and thinking about what she wants and what she
covets, and that’s really important for me,” Wu told AFP.