Rihanna Paid Tribute to a Late Icon During Super Bowl Halftime Show

Rihanna’s halftime show at this year’s Super Bowl was nothing short of amazing. Amid all of the talk about the performance, and her pregnancy reveal, you might have missed that Rihanna paid tribute to a late fashion icon with her attire. Rihanna honored Andre Leon Talley by wearing a red ensemble reminiscent of the stylist’s classic sleeping bag coat. 

The official Instagram account for Talley highlighted Rihanna’s tribute to him. They included an image of Talley in a red puffy coat, designed by Norma Kamali, and a photo of Rihanna from her halftime performance donning a similar-looking ensemble by Alaia from when she sang “Diamonds.” Talley’s Instagram was captioned with lyrics from the singer’s classic hit, “Umbrella,” which read, “When the sun shines, we’ll shine together. Told you I’ll be here forever… said I’ll always be your friend.”

 As Marie Claire noted, Rihanna and Talley enjoyed a close friendship. In footage from the 2015 Met Gala, Talley gushed over the “Stay” singer’s stunning yellow gown designed by Guo Pei. He told her during the event, “You are so inspiring to so many people. You are going to inspire people in this place.” The fashion stylist, who was also a former Vogue editor, passed away in January 2022. 

At the time, Anna Wintour paid tribute to her late friend by writing, “The loss of André is felt by so many of us today: the designers he enthusiastically cheered on every season, and who loved him for it; the generations he inspired to work in the industry, seeing a figure who broke boundaries while never forgetting where he started from; those who knew fashion, and Vogue, simply because of him; and, not forgetting, the multitude of colleagues over the years who were consistently buoyed by every new discovery of André’s, which he would discuss loudly, and volubly—no one could make people more excited about the most seemingly insignificant fashion details than him.”

Rihanna’s choice of ensemble for the Super Bowl halftime show was incredibly fitting as a tribute to her late friend. Before donning the Alaia jacket, the singer wore a custom multi-layered red outfit designed by Loewe. Her outfit consisted of a catsuit and a leather corset that cut off above her belly, which enabled her to show off her baby bump. According to Loewe’s website, the outfit was inspired by “flight gear and the show’s dynamic scenography.”