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Fashion Notes:  Rihanna’s S&M

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding Rihanna’s video for S&M, from reportedly being banned in eleven countries, to The Daily Mail crying plagiarism for its similarities to David LaChapelle’s work.

Featuring a lot of technicolour bondage imagery, the S&M video is balancing on a fine line between playful and sinister.  For the most part, it’s perfectly harmless and is an innovative way to put across various messages about the media’s relationship with celebrity.  However, because of the chosen imagery, the video will require some heavy editing before it hits daytime music television.  At the end of last year, Thirty Seconds To Mars found themselves in a similar situation regarding their video for Hurricane, which does cross the line completely into sinister, and singer Jared Leto blogged about the restrictions imposed on the video.  It’s worth a read if you’re wondering how much of the current version of S&M is likely to make it into the final teen-friendly cut but be advised that some scenes are described in graphic detail.

Looking past the controversy and to the S&M video itself, the current bold, bright - and in some cases bad taste - colour trend is there in full force.  Fashion is moving from the eighties to the nineties, with bare midriffs and the chaos resembling a Spice Girls video evident in one scene, where this season’s must-have Prada fur stole is a luxe update on the feather boa.  Jewel-encrusted ice creams, polka dots, tiaras and a cherry hat are all mirroring fashion’s current carefree and fun-filled mood, and are a far cry from the blackened fingertips and bullets seen in videos for Rihanna’s Rated R album.

Given the theme of the video, it’s unsurprising that there are a lot of latex and fetish outfits.  The skimpy, skin-tight pieces are likely to cause most of the fuss but the outfit I love really shows off designer Atsuko Kudo’s couture approach to latex.  The midi-length, nude Alejandra Dress with a full, pleated skirt would be quite demure in more traditional fabrics but crafted out of thin latex, it adds another dimension to the design.  Turning the hard-edged image of the fabric on its head, the Alejandra Dress is beautiful and playful, allowing a glimpse of stockings and suspenders in the styling on Rihanna.  Accessorised with its matching hat, black latex gloves and a Fleet Ilya belt, it’s a look for brave lovers of high-fashion only.

Less publicised are David Guetta and Rihanna’s videos for Who’s That Chick.  There are both day and night versions, with the day version featuring the same bubblegum colour scheme seen in S&M.  Youtube have made it a little tricky to find a video of both versions side-by-side but check them out if you can, I love the idea of having two different moods for the same video and this works really well.  Plus, there are some great outfits.

(Picture credit: Rihanna/Island Def Jam [screen cap])