The pop star who became fashion’s boldest dresser, and then its businesswoman.
By Shreya S · Last reviewed 15 November 2026
Why is Rihanna a fashion icon?
Because she takes risks and clearly enjoys them. The CFDA named her its Fashion Icon in 2014, and she collected the award in a sheer, crystal-covered gown by Adam Selman. Her street style, mixing couture, menswear, sportswear and lingerie, has been as influential as her red carpets.
What are her biggest Met Gala moments?
In 2015, for the China-themed exhibition, she wore a canary-yellow fur-trimmed cape by the Chinese couturier Guo Pei, with a train so long it needed attendants; the internet compared it to an omelette and it made Guo Pei world famous. In 2018 she came as a bejewelled pope in Maison Margiela by John Galliano. See what the Met Gala is.
What has she built?
As creative director of Fenty x Puma from 2014, she launched the Creeper sneaker. Fenty Beauty (2017) changed the beauty industry with 40 foundation shades, and the lingerie line Savage X Fenty followed in 2018. In 2019 she launched Fenty with LVMH, the first house the group had created from scratch since Christian Lacroix in 1987 and the first led by a Black woman; it was paused in 2021.
What did she wear at the Super Bowl?
For the 2023 halftime show she wore head-to-toe red by Jonathan Anderson for Loewe, under a long red Alaïa coat, and revealed her second pregnancy on stage. Her pregnancy style, with bare bellies, crop tops and lingerie worn as outerwear, rewrote the rules of maternity dressing.
Read on Ayerhs: Rihanna’s 49 Iconic Fashion Moments · ‘Break the Rules’: Rihanna for Paper Magazine · How the Met Gala Became Fashion’s Most Powerful Night