The last time Rihanna caused this much commotion was when she arrived late, and clutching a flute of champagne, to a press dinner at the Peninsula Hotel in Shanghai. The entrance precipitated a small stampede of iPhone-wielding journalists who had deployed to China to report on Moncler’s City of Genius, for which A$AP Rocky had designed a “ghetto expressionist” installation alongside a handful of other names, including Vogue’s global creative and cultural advisor Edward Enninful and Lucie and Luke Meir of Jil Sander fame. This evening’s Fashion Awards was a chance for Moncler’s party people to reunite in direct view of the fashion press.
There was, after all, cause to celebrate – Moncler’s CEO Remo Ruffini was being honoured with the Trailblazer Award and A$AP was deservedly being named a Cultural Innovator – which is reason enough for a business-minded billionaire to attend a red-carpet event that might just (just) birth further deals. And so, Rihanna was the last to arrive at the Royal Albert Hall, dressed in a sculptural Christian Lacroix autumn/winter 2002 minidress cut from thick pelts of teal fuzz with a matching hat of Monsters, Inc. Brobdingnagian proportions and Paula Rowan gloves. A$AP stood beside her in oversized Bottega Veneta tailoring sealed with a leather tie. It was obvious: tonight’s image would be splashed across tomorrow’s front pages.
As the warning bell rang out to signal the beginning of the awards, the couple ventured inside the Royal Albert Hall to join Enninful, the Meirs, A$AP Nast, Natasha Poonawalla, Maria Sharapova, Ellie Goulding and Michele Lamy – oh, to be a fly on the wine glass for that particular conversation – on the Moncler-sponsored table. “From his Paris Fashion Week debut to designing the retro futuristic neighbourhood in the Moncler’s The City of Genius in Shanghai, Rocky has had a resounding impact on the creative industries and popular culture this year,” said Caroline Rush, the chief executive of the British Fashion Council in a statement. “Through these collections and the promotion of his upcoming album Don’t Be Dumb, he has firmly positioned himself at the intersection of culture and innovation.” Rihanna whooped as he made his acceptance speech.
Original article first appeared on British Vogue
