Even those most ahead of the fashion game need to source aesthetic inspiration from somewhere, and Rihanna seems to have been looking a few decades into the future — or at least a 1966 interpretation of the future. The unconventional fashion icon has name-checked Star Trek’s Gerodi La Forge as the stylistic catalyst for a new collection of sunglasses she’s designed in collaboration with Dior. Having a celebrity actually design for the brand is a historic first for Dior, which normally only hires famous faces to wear their pieces. It’s also a beneficial move for both parties, not to mention Rihanna’s millions of fans. Dior is still searching for a creative director in the wake of Raf Simons’ departure last October, while Rihanna’s been ramping up her own design cred with a well-received first collection for Puma.
Dior’s new “Rihanna” collection will consist of six variations on the one retrofuturistic frame. The more basic colors — silver, pink, blue, green, and red — will retail for $840. Card-carrying Navy members (or anyone with cash to burn) can get a deluxe 24-karat gold-plated version for a cool $1,950. Rih explicitly hat-tipped La Forge in a statement provided to WWD. “I’ve always been obsessed with his eyewear, and when I got to Dior and saw all the materials I could play with, it all just came together,” she said.
Of course Rihanna’s not the only one to have been inspired by the sci-fi television series. Velour and spandex have “come back” more times than you can count on hand since 1966, and the franchise now even has a cosmically charged MAC makeup collection credit. Nor is Star Trek the only precedent for Rihanna’s shiny new Dior shades. Margiela’s iconic “Incognito” eyewear found a home on all the hottest faces of 2009, including but not limited to Lady Gaga, Lindsay Lohan, and Paris Hilton. Alexander McQueen’s high shine fem-bot visor attracted its own fair share of Star Trek comparisons, while the machine gun wraparound shades by Jeremy Scott and Linda Farrow were a little more Blade Runner. If you do feel tempted to shell out two Gs for a Rihanna-approved, gold-plated pair, at least they’ll still be cool in the 24th century.
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Text Hannah Ongley
Image courtesy of Dior