Dear Gossips,
Of course life changes when you become a parent, even when you’re Rihanna. But… not everything changes. Rihanna’s pregnancy last year was fashion euphoria – the ultimate trendsetter defiantly redefining the possibilities of pregnancy style. Which, for Rihanna, was just style, pregnancy had nothing to do with it. Those were just great outfits, not “pregnancy outfits”. And on top of style, it was also lifestyle.
At seven and eight months pregnant, Rihanna was still going to parties, staying out super late, leaving the restaurant/lounge/club well after midnight. Would that change once the baby was born? Well, her new cover interview with British Vogue started at 4am. Rihanna Time is still Rihanna Time. As she put it, “Rockstar hours”.
The interview took place right after the Golden Globes in early January. According to Vogue, Rihanna didn’t yet know that she was pregnant. This is why we need the documentary. Because now I want to know if finding out that she’s pregnant changed the show at all. And her wardrobe. Or did she just proceed as planned? RiRi, as we saw on Sunday, had no special guests on stage with her for the performance which became an exhilarating testament to the power of the woman – she can handle on her own, no assistance required. Though she couldn’t have known that she’d be doubling down on her own thesis, the confirmation here that she accepted the invitation to headline the halftime show well before she became pregnant and then carried on, business as usual, during her pregnancy makes it that much more boss.
The photoshoot for this issue happened in December, in part on the beach in Malibu. Which is when the paps were able to take pictures of the baby. Part of the Vogue piece covers how she and A$AP Rocky handled the situation. It was sh-tty, obviously, but her first priority was to take back control – and quickly. The way RiRi managed it was a master class in public relations, and it greatly devalued the paparazzi photos. They were certainly annoyed about it, and no doubt it would have been preferable had it never happened at all, but if we’re talking about celebrity strategy and protecting what needs to be protected.
Rihanna and Rocky had decided that they wanted to introduce their child via British Vogue. And here he is, as she said during the photo shoot, he already knows how to give good pose – look at this delightful muffin!
The baby, however, is only part of it. Note Rocky’s comment under British Vogue’s cover post:
The three of them, soon to be four, are a unit – a Black family on the cover of Vogue, released during Black History Month, just after Valentine’s Day. This is intentional, this is beautiful, this is impactful.
Rihanna’s covered many Vogues many times. For her and Rocky, this wasn’t just about another fashion magazine cover. This was about representing. Historically we haven’t seen images like this very often on the cover of a publication like British Vogue. It’s a celebration of Black love, and Black parenthood, and the modern Black family.
And another big win for British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful.
Yours in gossip,
Lainey