As a billowing, floor-length puffer jacket sailed down the 69th Parsons School of Design benefit runway last night, it was hard not to notice Rihanna, one of the evening's honorees, perk up.
Pivoting in her chair, craning her neck, and intently observing the garment's detailing as it whizzed past, it was particularly enthralling to watch the pop titan, fashion savant, and face of Dior silently give her appraisal of the school's graduate student's work. After all, the inimitable trendsetter could be fixing her well-trained eye on a piece that could become a viral street style moment. In fact, Rihanna has an impressive track record of plucking headline-making designs from the school's alumni and up-and-comers alike, turning nascent talent into industry heavy hitters.
Take the very oversized Matthew Adams Dolan khaki suiting she wore for the evening. Referring to Dolan as her "boo" as she cooed over the two piece on the red carpet, the singer told ELLE.com she's always been partial to young talent with a point of view. "I look for originality. I look for a creative, clever perspective. I love that," she explained. "I love just seeing the mind of someone reflected onto a piece of clothing. It says a lot about what's going on in their minds."
Rihanna choosing to wear the voluminous, menswear-inspired design from the Parsons MFA Fashion Design and Society alum felt like a cornerstone of their relationship. Having first suited up into Dolan's signature baggy and sinuous indigo wares for a 2015 i-D shoot, the Bajan superstar has since worked with Dolan on two Fenty x Puma collections, donned his designs whilst meeting Prince Harry last fall, and turned to the Massachusetts-native for all of her custom denim needs.
It's the stuff of fashion mythology, and as Dolan tells ELLE.com, completely transformed the emerging designer's career trajectory.
"It was definitely surreal. It happened at a time when I had just finished almost ten years of college, was working as a cashier and applying for every design job I could find," he writes via email. "At the time I had not even considered starting my own business at all, so it definitely played a huge part in making that decision. I am so grateful for all of the encouragement and advice from all parties involved, which ultimately led to taking that leap." Taking that chance on unknown talent—despite having lent her face to such luxury brands as Balmain and Dior—is what has consistently placed Rihanna ahead of the style curve; she straddles the of luxe and underground, making bold advances ahead of her contemporaries.
This type of prescience is what Pyer Moss's Kerby Jean-Raymond attributes to her influence. Suited up in a pin-striped tuxedo at last night's gala, the Brooklyn-born design veteran who is known for his provocative, politically charged runway shows, leaned across a banquette to recount how in 2013, Rihanna plucking his camouflage leather moto jacket out of a showroom became the catalyst to the launch of his line. "There is no other celebrity, actress, or singer like her who is willing to take risks. She wears things right off the runway," he explained. "At the time no one was going to wear a Pyer Moss jacket from a showroom with no name. She just takes a lot of risks and is confident in it"
Jean-Raymond had not so much as stitched a label in the jacket or launched a full collection, but the outcry from Rihanna's fans alone attracted the attention of influential vendors (Jean-Raymond would eventually sell his first collection at Brown's) and became a litmus test for his then-emerging line and its commercial potential. "In the industry it's very difficult to reach any level of success without touching two people: Rihanna or Kanye West," he says. "Those two have very impeccable taste. Once you make it [with them], you have crossed over to all genres."
Parsons alum Melitta Baumeister had a similar experience when Rihanna took Paris Fashion Week by storm in 2014, sheathed in a sculptural pleather moto jacket from the then 28-year-old's 10-piece debut collection. The exaggerated contours of the liquid-like topper quickly captured the attention of photographers as the singer glided into the Commes des Garçons show to take her front row perch, giving Baumeister the stamp of approval she was looking for.
"Rihanna was in a way proving that what I was doing was new and interesting to a bigger audience," she explains via email. "It was reassuring to see my work on a strong identity as hers." Soon, Dover Street Market was calling and stocking her collection, while relationships with stylists were forged. "[For me], it meant to simply continue with my work that I was doing."
Which in so many ways, was Rihanna's final message before descending into the dinner that evening to accept her award and announce the singer's collaboration between her non-profit organization, the Clara Lioniel Foundation, with Donna Karan and Parsons—a collaboration that will be sending three students to Haiti this summer to work on a philanthropic fashion line. "New inspiration can be found everywhere," she told ELLE.com. "It can be found in the old, it can be found in the new. It's found in what's unknown, the people who are underground and just trying to make it and really working hard. These students at this school, you just never know where you're going to find inspiration. But it's everywhere and you just have to look for it."
