Was Rihanna a star student back in her Barbados school days?
Judging by the latest Fenty x Puma by Rihanna extravaganza, held today at Paris’ grand Bibliotheque Nationale (refurbished and cataloged just in time for the show), one can surmise that while formal study wasn’t exactly her forte, she still always managed to finish top of the class.
And this being @badgalriri, Rihanna proved with her latest collection that she was no teacher’s pet and had a considerable rebellious streak.
In classic rule-breaking mode, the show was fashioned as a detention hall. Disobedient models took to the library’s long tables, strutting down them in the latest collaborative shoes as if there were no teacher in sight.
Watch on FN
On to the shoes: If it isn’t already painfully obvious, this was a school-inspired collection — and what a well-matched venue and theme it was. Sock boots stretched high above the knee and were varsity-esque. The newest uniform-plaid creepers appealed to the “freaks,” while chunky sneaker boots were aimed at the “geeks.”
There were also velvet booties, fur-lined sneaker mules and tonal takes on Fenty’s beloved chunky sneakers, updated with serrated soles.
Logos were everywhere and, due in large part to the Rihanna effect, the brand is enjoying a surge in both sales and sizzle. But it wasn’t all sneakers and sock-y boots. Fold-over canvas stilettos and check-lines wader boots, well, waded into British boarding-school territory.
Overall, how involved Ms. Fenty is in the design of the collection and if this is true fashion or mere marketing is debatable, but what isn’t: She sure knows how to put on one entertaining show.
To view the full collection, click through the gallery.
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