Victoria Beckham has got it all—a beautiful family, a coveted fashion career and to top it off, she was recently crowned with the Woman of the Year Glamour Award.
Victoria Beckham has got it all—a beautiful family, a coveted fashion career and to top it off, she was recently crowned with the Woman of the Year Glamour Award. In her interview with Glamour after the awards ceremony, the former Posh Spice hinted of plans in the future for a high street collaboration with her timeless ready-to-wear collections. With retired husband David having more time to look after the children, we’re all hoping this will be Victoria’s next step towards this much desired partnership.
Disaster
Having said this, designer-high street collaborations have not been looking promising for a certain celebrity’s attempts at this sought after fashionista move. Yes, you guess correctly, the Rihanna for River Island collection, what a disaster.
With the singer becoming a worldwide sensation taking over my music channels, my newspaper headlines, the billboards down the road, and plonking her body all over my glossy magazines, there was nowhere else left for Rihanna to go than to hack into the fashion industry. With her sassy poses already printed onto many male t-shirts in British retailers Topman and River Island, she wanted more.
Cheap bandeau tops and hot pants
This past February, the solo-artist teamed up with co-designer, Adam Selman, for her spring collaboration with River Island. She showcased her collection at London Fashion Week, where she strolled up, ‘unapologetically,’ an hour late for her 9 minute show of cheap bandeau tops and hot pants. Yet Rihanna managed to scrape a second collection out of the bag for summer, which she regarded as clothes “for fat days,” as stated in the sneak peak video featured on River Island’s website.
In scrolling through the collection on their website, you will find the skimpy, see-through dresses, and the bum cheek flashing shorts, that are just splendid for those ‘fat days’ that Rihanna preaches. Tie-dye has made a comeback in becoming a fun trend for summer ’13, but she fails to embrace the print to its full potential. There is so much repetition of the exact same gloomy print of grey and green, making an appearance for her shorts, tops, jumpsuits, and dresses, as if she couldn’t be bothered to find any further inspiration. There is no versatility.
The same can be said for her grungy florals with the limited black and grey design, resulting in drab. The only textures featured in her collection are the crochet pieces that consist of a see-through mesh creating a sultry look of being captured by fishmongers.
Megan Sutton, Fashion Editor for Liberty Belle Sheffield magazine said: “I think Rihanna tries too hard to give off this rebellious and ‘bad girl’ impression with her collections, which I find a little too cliché.”
The collection showcases many plain t-shirts that look as if they can be found in any old jumble-sale, in both quality and design, leaving little to the imagination. The knots embedded into the skirts and t-shirts forcing them to be hauled up sadly reminds me of a slutty school girl fancy dress. Rihanna for River Island ultimately lacks any level of sophistication or detail, which may just be reflection of Rihanna’s own style. To me, nothing shouts one-of-a-kind statement piece.
Scarlett-Rose Otter, of the Otterly Charming fashion blog, said: “The collection is borderline tacky. There are no real investment pieces.”
Trying too hard
The high-street may only be on board as fans of the pop star love to get their hands on anything remotely related to her. Rihanna even held competitions for fans to have the privilege of wearing her collections first, but I think they need to open their eyes to what Rihanna has actually offered them, or lack of.
Having said this, the bootilicious Beyoncé collection for H&M has proven a success with her powerful designs and bold summery shades, and Victoria’s classic collections will hopefully grab our attention at a price we won’t have to blow our whole student loan on.
What do you think? Will you buy the celebrity fashion lines? Have your say in the comments section below, on Facebook or on Twitter.
