CELEBRITY
Rihanna Watches Proudly From the Front Row of A$AP Rocky’s Debut Runway Show in Paris
It’s been a big week for Rihanna and A$AP Rocky. After touching down in Paris on Thursday for Paris Fashion Week in vintage Dior—just 48 hours after the announcement that Rihanna is the new face of Dior’s J’Adore—Rihanna sat front row for A$AP’s first-ever runway show. In video shared by @stylenotcom, Rihanna can be seen filming models as they walked the runway in pieces from American Sabotage, the newest collection under A$AP’s creative agency, AWGE.
The first showing of the collection, which A$AP revealed to GQ he’d been working on “for quite some time,” doubled as an announcement for new music: Emblazoned on several pieces worn during the show was the tagline “Don’t Be Dumb,” a nod to A$AP’s new album, newly available for pre-order. Guests attending the show—which took place in Karl Lagerfeld’s former home in Paris—included Pusha T, JW Anderson, and Alexandre Arnault; Arnault was seated next to Rihanna in the front row.
Speaking to GQ last week, A$AP said of the upcoming show: “It’s just me trying to encapsulate just all of my experiences, everything that I’ve learned, everything I’ve experienced about the social issues and the social climate of America. I think fashion is an expression. It’s to express how you feel. This is no different.”
He described the collection as “political satire”‘—a phrase that also appeared in a piece worn during the show.
Outside Lagerfeld’s home, “protesters” promoting AWGE held up black and white signs reading “Don’t Be Dumb”—the first taster of which is thought to have been played during the show. Stepping out to greet the crowd at the end of the show, wearing a bomber jacket printed with his own mugshot, A$AP held a similar sign.