Photography Jean-Baptiste MondinoFashion / NewsRihanna has designed a sunglasses collection for DiorThe musician makes her design debut for the French house, set for release in early JuneShareLink copied ✔️May 25, 2016FashionNewsTextAnna CafollaDior’s collaboration with Rihanna While Dior powers on sans Raf, Rihanna is stepping up to the mark as the face and contributing designer of their newest range of sunglasses, with a collection justly named “Rihanna”. It’s the second partnership between the French fashion house and the Anti singer, who last year fronted the Steven Klein-photographed campaign “Secret Garden IV”. A picture on Rih Rih’s Instagram showed the singer in a pair of the early 2000s, La Forge from Star Trek-inspired shades. The sunglasses collection will be available exclusively in Dior stores from June, with silver, pink, blue, green and red styles priced at $840. A 24-karat gold version will retail for $1,950. Dior CEO Sidney Toledano spoke to WWD about the partnership. “We are very pleased to partner for the second time with Rihanna,” he said. “She is an artist, an entertainer, an entrepreneur, a philanthropist, and a style icon for today’s generation.” Rihanna’s among many other famous faces who’ve fronted the house: Natalie Portman, Charlize Theron and Marion Cotillard among others. However, she’s the first brand ambassador to collaborate in a design project. Mathieu Jamin, Dior’s eyewear designer, said the singer had a major part to play in the sunglasses’ construction. He said: “She chose all the materials. We had a lot of different samples with different effect of metals. She chose all the lenses and took time to match all the colors together to see if it was right on her face. It was really important to her.” Speaking about the design process, Rihanna explained: “The process was pretty seamless. I spent a day at Dior with their eyewear design team. I started by looking through all the archives to see what they’ve done in the past, then got acquainted with all the new materials. I literally sat there and drew and drew until I was happy with the design, and the team illustrated it for me right then and there. We picked materials and colors that same day, and after that it was a matter of weeks before I saw the first prototype.” The musician’s been spreading her wings wide across the fashion spectrum this year, with her Fenty Puma collection debuting at New York Fashion Week in February. There’s no campaign to go with the sunglasses launch yet, but she’s been shot by Jean-Baptiste Mondino for in-house editorial images. We'll have to wait and see whether future design projects are on the horizon. Escape the algorithm! Get The DropEmail address SIGN UP Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday. Privacy policy Thank you. You have been subscribed Privacy policy Expand your creative community and connect with 15,000 creatives from around the world.READ MORE BurberryKate Moss, Little Simz, and more celebrate 170 years of BurberryIn pictures: David Luraschi captures model of the moment, Serkan Deniz GANNIGANNI is yearning for a dreamy summer – and so are we FILAFrom track to concrete: Fila reimagines sportswear in the city for AW26Behind the scenes at Zomer and La Watchparty’s AW26 runwayLove machine: When robot HMND Alpha met model Angelina KendallSaint Laurent AW26 paid tribute to the iconic Le Smoking jacketDior AW26: Jonathan Anderson invites us to his (lily) pad Hodakova AW26 wants us to take a long, hard look in the mirrorPerfection and chaos collided at Vaquera’s AW26 showAre you ready for the return of the ‘everyday tiara’?Meryll Rogge takes Marni: ‘I need to make sure I don’t fuck it up’Escape the algorithm! Get The DropEmail address SIGN UP Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday. Privacy policy Thank you. You have been subscribed Privacy policy