On June 29, 1994, Princess Diana attended a Vanity Fair party at the Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens. Prince Charles had just been publicly caught slinging it about, but rather than shy away from the spotlight, the beleaguered royal used fashion as a tool for revenge, arriving at the dinner in a plunging, off-the-shoulder evening gown. It was an exacting shot heard around the world, one that lives on today in the annals of fashion history.
In many ways, Rihanna’s past 24 hours have followed an eerily similar path. On Sunday night, the singer(?) attended the premiere of her new film Smurfs in AW25 Saint Laurent, but was shamelessly upstaged by her infant sons, who’d got J Dubs on the blower for some new Dior. Last night, however, Rihanna took matters into her own hands, plotting revenge on her own offspring to reclaim the fashion spotlight once and for all. Stepping out in Santa Monica, Rih had kicked those kids to the curb for her own solo moment, posing for the paps in a hooded top and embroidered padded skirt from Alaïa. Part of Pieter Mulier’s AW25 collection, the Revenge dress 2.0 was arguably even more showstopping than its predecessor, and returned the crown to where it truly belonged. Yes Rih, gag those sprogs!
Ironically, to say that Rihanna was inspired by Diana’s penchant for fashion humiliation isn’t a stretch. In 2013, the Bajan star told US Glamour that Diana was a “gangsta” and “the best who ever did it” when it came to her style. “She killed it. Every look was right,” said Rihanna at the time. “She was gangsta with her clothes. She had these crazy hats. She got oversize jackets. I loved everything she wore!” So that’s settled then. The Alaïa outfit is the Revenge dress 2.0, and to any allegations that I made it all up to fill 350 words of a news story – look at the cold hard evidence. Now that’s settled, all we can do is wait for Riot and RZA to respond. New season Prada? Schiaparelli couture? Unreleased Chanel by Matthieu Blazy? The ball is in your court, boys.
Scroll through the gallery at the top of the page for Alaïa AW25