Rihanna lands a big, splashy cover for W magazine’s September issue, as art-directed by Terry Jones, the founder of British magazine i-D. There are two cover versions, both shot by Steven Klein.
According to Business of Fashion, in one she is “cast as a queen in wartime and peacetime, nodding to both the 40th anniversary of the emergence of punk and the 90th birthday of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II. At peace, she’s rendered in black-and-white.” On both covers she is drenched is Cartier jewels.
Discussing the editorial, W fashion director Edward Enniful explained that all the garments were custom made, befitting Rihanna’s status in his eyes as a queen, adding, “I wanted something more futuristic, which is very much a part of the [fall] season. Hood by Air, Prada, all these designers showed collections that had a futuristic edge. So she’s living in a dystopian world and she’s fearless, which is pretty much Rihanna’s personality. She’s not scared, and that’s what I love about her.”
W Editor-in-Chief Stefano Tonchi says the issue kicks off plans to publish collaborative, collectible issue for the March and September publications. “It’s part of the larger strategy to make every issue of the magazine a collectible, to create print as an event,” said Tonchi.
