One word – ICONIC!
Serving nothing short of pure magic on the cover of Essence Magazine’s latest issue is hip hop superstar Rihanna Robyn Fenty aka Bad Girl Riri!
The singer, fashion mogul and philanthropist covers February 2021’s issue of Essence magazine in a collaboration with acclaimed multimedia artist Lorna Simpson and the result? A visually stunning cover shot and 12-page portfolio inside the magazine titled “Earth & Sky.”
The multitalented Barbados-born for the mag rocks looks from designer clothing from the likes of Prada, Rick Owens, Hood by Air, and her own Savage X Fenty.
“In a dreamy collage @badgalriri served modern-day glamour in her collaboration with artist @lornasimpson for the January +February issue of #Essence. On newstands January 19.” @essence wrote.
“Lorna is a legend,” Rihanna told Essence. “Honestly, I just didn’t think I could get her, but I like reaching for the stars and I like challenging myself.”
Famed across the globe for her photo collages in an ongoing project reinterpreting images of Black women, 60-year-old Simpson still takes on that path with this project with Rihanna. Her 22-year-old daughter, writer and actor Zora Simpson Casebere, penned the accompanying essay, “Anthems of Possibility.” “[Collaborating] with Rihanna and Essence magazine is quite incredible,” Simpson said to the mag while on set. “As an artist, I’m able to deliver these unusual images of someone who is so well-known and so recognizable… It’s an amazing opportunity.”
According to Simpson Casabere when the singer first entered the room, she was “mesmerized.”
“She was the very definition of grace, charisma, and influence,” she writes. Rihanna “met the camera with power and possibility—power in how she moved her body through space, and possibility in how she dismantled and moved beyond institutional boundaries.”
Swipe to see the mesmerizing photos:
