Rihanna has always known how to wow a red carpet — and at the British Fashion Awards in London on Monday, December 2, she happily upstaged one of the show’s big winners: her very own partner, ASAP Rocky!
The rapper picked up the honor for Cultural Innovator and said that the award “means so much” to him, but while he looked extremely stylish in his oversized navy blue suit by Bottega Veneta, it was his reliably flamboyant love who stole the show.
Rihanna and Rocky, both 36, arrived fashionably late to the red carpet at the Royal Albert Hall in the British capital, with the singer wearing an ice blue Christian Lacroix fur wrap dress and black bustier along with sheer tights, heels, leather opera gloves — and that instantly iconic headpiece, which Vogue likened to Monsters, Inc! (She looked amazing, naturally — we just feel a little sorry for whoever was sitting behind her!)
It’s not the first time the couple, who share two sons, RZA, 2, and Riot, 15 months, has attended the British Fashion Awards but at the same ceremony back in 2019, they arrived separately as rumors first swirled that they were dating.
Being the last stars to arrive at glamorous events has also become the stylish couple’s trademark attention-grabbing move. At the Met Gala in 2021, they showed up so late that Vogue’s livestream from the red carpet had already finished. Maybe they just need to get a more reliable babysitter?
The Cultural Innovator award was given to Rocky to celebrate a style leader who has created “viral fashion moments which have had a profound impact on the fashion industry and wider culture,” and comes after the rapper wowed Paris Fashion Week in June, where he debuted his AWGE runway collection, American Sabotage. His supportive partner Rihanna whooped as he accepted his award, with British Fashion Council chief executive Caroline Rush explaining why he was a worthy winner.
“From his Paris Fashion Week debut to designing the retro-futuristic neighborhood in the Moncler’s The City of Genius in Shanghai, Rocky has had a resounding impact on the creative industries and popular culture this year,” she said. “Through these collections and the promotion of his upcoming album Don’t Be Dumb, he has firmly positioned himself at the intersection of culture and innovation.”
