September has barely begun, but Rihanna appears to have already landed on her color palette for fall. Think espresso, oatmeal, charcoal, navy, and deep indigo—the sort of earthy neutrals that typically signal a return to sensible autumn dressing. Rihanna, naturally, has other ideas. For social content surrounding the launch of Fenty Beauty’s Pro Filt’r Fluid Flex Foundation at Sephora, the mogul dressed in chocolate brown.
She wore SIR.’s Matheo draped tank and matching Matheo jersey maxi skirt, a fluid, body-skimming pairing that she toughened up with the Frankie Shop’s funnel-neck leather jacket in a similar hue. Tom Ford snake-effect leather pumps—a favorite of Rih’s—brought another layer of richness to the tonal look. It was neutral dressing in theory, but certainly not quiet luxury in practice.
Rihanna’s trick has long been playing with texture: slinky jersey against substantial leather, and snake-print as a neutral. There may only be a handful of colors involved, but there is still plenty happening for Robyn Rihanna Fenty. Her recent stint in Paris has offered more evidence of a seasonal shift. Heading to Siena, one of her most-visited restaurants in the city, Rihanna wrapped up in an oatmeal-colored bomber jacket over straight-leg blue jeans, grounding the look with brown Puma sneakers and a quilted navy Dior bag.
Again, while the colors were relatively restrained,
Again, while the colors were relatively restrained, it was the proportions, fabrication, and luxe accessories that did all the talking. And on another Paris outing, she went darker still. Rihanna paired melange-gray Attico joggers with Wardrobe.NYC’s belted gabardine trench coat, then lifted the slouchy, charcoal-toned combination with Gucci’s textured metallic silk mule pumps and a small Dior Toujours hobo bag.
That’s the kind of styling alchemy Rihanna excels at. There’s a suggestion, here, that Rihanna is approaching fall dressing by turning down the saturation without dialing back the drama. Chocolate, oatmeal, charcoal, navy might be pride of place in the quiet luxury-leaning wardrobe of the likes of, say, Hailey Bieber or Kendall Jenner, but for Rih, they’re rendered through luxe materials, exaggerated proportions, and bold as hell accessories that means her looks feel anything but basic.
Perhaps that’s Rihanna’s answer to fall neutrals: turn down the color, turn up everything else. Of course, don’t expect Rihanna to adhere to any seasonal rules too rigidly. Just last month she was experimenting with the “skean”—a Frankensteinian skirt-jean—and, a day earlier, revisiting one of her favorite aughts staples: the denim mini. That dark-wash Meryll Rogge skirt came with a candy-pink Miu Miu track jacket and her go-to Amina Muaddi snakeskin sandals.
If Rihanna has found her fall palette, then, consider it more of a suggestion than a rulebook. After all, the most Rihanna thing about Rihanna’s style is that you never quite know what she’ll wear next.
Source: www.vogue.com
