Olivier Rousteing thinks Rihanna is the ultimate supermodel

Move over, Naomi, Claudia and Cindy. In the battle of the supermodels, there can only be one winner – and that's Rihanna. In an interview with the Independent, Balmain's Olivier Rousteing says that the Bajan singer has replaced the iconic 80s and 90s models in terms of fashion power. 

"When you look at an old Versace show, you loved the dress, but you loved Claudia Schiffer, you loved Cindy Crawford. Supermodels! With Rihanna you get that too," he explains. "Today people are looking at Rihanna like they were looking at Naomi Campbell or Claudia... nobody wants to be a model, everybody wants to be a singer. That's the new dream. I think having Rihanna in the campaign is like having Cindy Crawford or Christy Turlington, but for my generation."

Rihanna has long served as Rousteing's muse and celebrity BFF, but she was also picked by the 28-year-old designer to be the face for his SS14 campaign, which was styled by her stylist Mel Ottenberg and shot by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin.

"It was an amazing statement for the house, for fashion," Rousteing says. "It was really important that she was doing the campaign because she's my muse, she's my icon, and she's my friend." In a release for the campaign, Rousteing described her as an "icon".

"She owned the clothes," he says. "That's exactly what I want. I love seeing a woman, the feeling of a model, a top model." Rousteing isn't the only one who rates Rihanna's star power: Tom Ford has also stated that getting your clothes featured on Rihanna's Instagram is more powerful than a show review from a fashion critic. 

What do you think – is Rihanna the new supermodel for our generation?