As part of Rihanna‘s coverage as guest editor for Paris Vogue‘s December 2017 issue, the mogul and singer provided the magazine with some insight on what goes on in her everyday life and also who she’s inspired by.
Providing a view into her seemingly never-ending energy stores, Robyn Rihanna Fenty explained that even when vacationing, she stays on the move. “I have a lot of trouble switching off,” she told the magazine. “Even when I get home early, which means before 1:00 AM, I start binge-watching shows or documentaries, which I love. I can’t go straight to bed. As a matter of fact, I only sleep three or four hours a night.”
When asked to list the people who inspire her, Rihanna listed an eclectic group made up of Bob Marley, Whitney Houston, Elizabeth Taylor, Mariah Carey, Tina Turner, Michèle Lamy, Patricia Field and her own mother, Monica Fenty.
Commenting on men behaving badly, Rihanna spoke about the low cut lack dress Princess Diana wore after it was revealed her then husband, Prince Charles, had cheated on her. “Every time a man cheats on you or treats you badly, you need a revenge dress,” said Rihanna. “Every woman knows that. But whether her choice of this knockdown dress was conscious or not, I am touched by the idea that even Princess Diana could suffer like any ordinary woman. This Diana bad bitch moment blew me away.”
Rihanna also provided a peak into her child with an anecdote predicting her penchant for the spotlight. “I remember a birthday party my parents had organized at home for a neighbor, Michelle, a childhood friend. I must have been three or four years old. Everyone was dancing around her in the living room and I couldn’t stand the fact that at that precise moment, I wasn’t the center of attention,” she said.
“I snuck upstairs and got changed. I put on a pink and yellow swimsuit and an African print jacket with an orange hood. There is a video of this scene. You can hear everyone calling, ‘Robyn, where’s Robyn?’ Then you see these four fingers sliding down the banister as I come downstairs. It’s hilarious,” she said.
Rihanna’s three covers were shot by three photography teams led by Inez and Vinoodh, Jean-Paul Goude and Juergen Teller. The issue will be available to purchase on December 1, 2017.
