NEW YORK: Rihanna did not walk into New York Fashion Week. She rode through it.
The pop star and fashionista kicked off her Fenty Puma 2018 spring-summer collection Sunday with motocross bicycles flying high in the air, ascending above a dreamy display of powder pink mountains and sand — as the audience watched in awe.
Rihanna rode on the back of a bike — in true rock star form with one hand displaying the sign of the horns and her tongue sticking out — after the models strutted around the race car-like catwalk at Park Avenue Armory.
She wore a fitted, long sleeve army green shirt with a plunging neckline, a bright green jacket wrapped around her waist, thigh high boots, and sunglasses. She was confident and cool, and her collection delivered a similar vibe.
The clothes were a mix of fitted and loose pieces, ranging from oversized jackets to tight dresses to shiny swimsuits. Most of the items paired two colors: The navy blue pieces featured hot pink embellishments, while orange and black made up the various athletic suits.
While the clothes, worn mostly by women and some men, could be used at the gym for working out or even gym-selfies for Instagram, some were for the beach. There was a cropped top hoodie, low waisted, knee-length shorts and fashion-forward one-piece bathing suits. One model even wore a towel over his head.
Rihanna’s audience Sunday included members of the fashion world, but also some of her music peers, such as rappers Big Sean, Fabolous, Yo Gotti, Dave East and Cardi B., whose song “Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)” is currently No. 3 on the pop charts.
Diplo, the Grammy-winning producer who has worked with Beyonce, Justin Bieber and others, said he took a helicopter from a gig to make it to Rihanna’s fashion show.
“I think music and fashion are so coincided together, and with (Rihanna), she is like equal parts a music beast and a fashion beast. And everybody has a little bit of it, they mix it up, but she is been doing it since she started,” Diplo said of Rihanna, who released her first album in 2005. “Like, she is always been on both sides. So she is a veteran in that world. So it is amazing to be here for her show.”
Last week, Rihanna — born Robyn Rihanna Fenty in the Barbados — launched Fenty Beauty, which features makeup designed for all skin colors. The 29-year-old said she wanted to be sure all women, no matter their complexion, could use to her products.
“She is a great businesswoman,” R&B singer Jheke Aiko said of Rihanna at the show. “She is definitely a great role model for young girls, especially girls of color, to look up to and see all that she is doing.”
While Rihanna debuted 50 different looks at the show, the overall highlight? A black dress revealing some of the waist, paired with a baggy army green jacket to give it the Rihanna edge.
And if there is one thing Rihanna is, it is risk-taker: She did not even wear a helmet when she rode on the bike.
Rihanna rides into New York Fashion Week like a rock star
Rihanna rides into New York Fashion Week like a rock star
Japan’s beloved last pandas leave for China as ties fray
TOKYO: Two popular pandas are set to leave Tokyo for China Tuesday, leaving Japan without any of the beloved bears for the first time in 50 years as ties between the Asian neighbors fray.
Panda twins Lei Lei and Xiao Xiao are due to be transported by truck out of Ueno Zoological Gardens, their birthplace, disappointing many Japanese fans who have grown attached to the furry four-year-olds.
“Although I can’t see them, I came to share the same air with them and to say, ‘Hope you’ll be OK,’” one woman visiting the zoo told public broadcaster NHK.
The pandas’ abrupt return was announced last month during a diplomatic spat that began when Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi hinted that Tokyo could intervene militarily in the event of an attack on Taiwan.
Her comment provoked the ire of Beijing, which regards the island as its own territory.
The distinctive black-and-white animals, loaned out as part of China’s “panda diplomacy,” have symbolized friendship between Beijing and Tokyo since they normalized diplomatic ties in 1972.
Their repatriation comes a month before their loan period expires in February, according to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which operates Ueno Zoo.
Japan has reportedly been seeking the loan of a new pair of pandas.
However, a weekend poll by the liberal Asahi Shimbun newspaper showed that 70 percent of those surveyed do not think the government should negotiate with China on the lease of new pandas, while 26 percent would like them to.
On Sunday, Ueno Zoo invited some 4,400 lucky winners of an online lottery to see the pandas for the last time.
Passionate fans without tickets still turned out at the park, sporting panda-themed shirts, bags and dolls to demonstrate their love of the animals.
China has discouraged its nationals from traveling to Japan, citing deteriorating public security and criminal acts against Chinese nationals in the country.
Beijing is reportedly also choking off exports to Japan of rare-earth products crucial for making everything from electric cars to missiles.
However, China routinely removes pandas from foreign countries and the latest move may not be politically motivated, said Masaki Ienaga, a professor at Tokyo Woman’s Christian University and an expert in East Asian international relations.
“If you talk about (Chinese) politics, the timing of sending pandas is what counts,” and pandas could return to Japan if bilateral ties warm, he said.
Other countries use animals as tools of diplomacy, including Thailand with its elephants and Australia with its koalas, he added.
“But pandas are special,” he said. “They have strong customer-drawing power, and... they can earn money.”
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