Rihanna whizzed into New York for Fashion Week over the weekend to catch a glimpse of what’s new, but her personal wardrobe was taking inspiration from the past. She continued her vintage flair in the Big Apple, sourcing a parade of holy grail pieces from the 1990s.
Rihanna began her night at The Daily Front Row’s Fashion Media Awards where she presented Perfect Magazine founder Katie Grand the Magazine of the Year Award. Rihanna donned a nude John Galliano design from 1997. Her gauzy dress, layered on top of a waist-hugging corset, featured a plunging neckline and a draped skirt. She accessorized her trophy vintage with lace-up heels and diamond earrings. The blush pink Alaïa coat which Rihanna wore loosely over her shoulders keyed everyone in on her itinerary for the remainder of the evening.
After, Rihanna jetted uptown for Pieter Mullier’s spring 2025 Alaïa runway show which he presented at the Guggenheim Museum. For her rare front-row NYFW jaunt, Rihanna channeled 1990s Alaïa—specifically, one of the late designer’s landmark collections.
Rihanna turned up in a custom outfit comprised of a teensy corset dress and a dramatic cape coat. The bedazzled pieces seemingly referenced a dress Naomi Campbell wore during Azzedine Alaïa’s spring 1992 collection. Rihanna amped up her dramatized version with crystal-trimmed Amina Muaddi heels. Murmurs erupted in the hush show space during the mogul’s fashionably late arrival. The appearance marked her first seated show appearance during New York Fashion Week in just about a decade.
As if that weren’t enough vintage to satisfy the Manhattan crowd, Rihanna then changed into a custom slip dress by Jawara Alleyne that she paired with blinding diamond jewels, sandal heels, and Phoebe Philo shades. For some ’00s arm candy, Rihanna carried the rare Galliano-era “Diorissimo Rasta” bag during the after-party. A rather fitting conclusion to her weekend, of course, given her staggering Galliano archive.
