Rihanna: the pop star who became a fashion powerhouse

The singer has cemented her status with an epic show at New York fashion week and the launch of her own beauty brand

Announcing Rihanna as a keynote speaker at its prestigious fashion industry conference next month, Women’s Wear Daily described her as a “powerhouse multihyphenate”. This is perhaps the least clumsy way to describe what Rihanna does. As a singer, songwriter, actor, fashion designer, and – since the launch a week ago of Fenty Beauty – business mogul, the strings to Rihanna’s bow have become unwieldy to list. Luckily, she is too famous to need a job title.

Even by global megastar standards, Rihanna has had quite a week. As creative director of the sportswear company Puma, she staged an epic New York fashion week show, complete with motocross stunts across pink glitter mountains that delighted her fans and charmed the critics. The Washington Post said: “Rihanna has figured out how to sprinkle just the right amount of her stardust on the sportswear brand without overshadowing the brand itself.