Rihanna attended a press conference on Thursday in Phoenix ahead of her performance at the 2023 Super Bowl Halftime Show in an animal-printed ensemble from Alaïa.
The singer sat down for an interview with the 2023 Halftime Show sponsor, Apple Music, in a black jacket and a reptilian-printed dress. Her jacket had a slightly cropped fit and is from the brand’s spring 2023 ready-to-wear collection, which incorporated cowhides turned into skirts and sheepskin transformed into motorcycle shearlings. “It’s about taking all the codes of Azzedine and explaining them to the young generation that don’t really know it,” Pieter Mulier, the creative director of Alaïa, told WWD backstage at the show in July.
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Rihanna‘s dress was in a coordinating gray animal print, as were her shoes, a pair of custom lace-up the Gianvito Rossi sandals in a textured, printed python. She accessorized with a chain-link choker necklace and a pair of custom earrings by Maria Tash.
Rihanna wore her hair braided in ponytails with pieces left out in the front to frame her face. She opted for a fiery-red lip and a touch of red eye shadow.
During the interview, she was asked what it’s like putting it together and building the set list. “The set list was the biggest challenge, that was the hardest part… deciding how to maximize 13 minutes but also celebrate,” Rihanna said.
“You’re trying to cram 17 years of work into 13 minutes, so it’s difficult. Some songs we have to lose because of that… but I think we did a good job of narrowing it down,” adding, “there are probably about 39 versions of the set list right now. Every little change counts.”
At the end of the interview, Rihanna’s short clip in partnership with Apple Music titled “Run This Town,” was premiered. In it, a young girl wearing a school uniform can be seen walking around her community.
In the background voices emerge, with one saying: “But you know it’s about time that she come back and the fans waiting!” The young girl slips on a pair of sunglasses and joins her friends to fly kites, while the single “Run This Town” plays in the background. Then, words appear, reading “My whole life was shaped on this very road. I was just a little island girl flying kits in the cemetery… but I had big dreams.” She later shared the clip on her Instagram, where it already gained more than 260,000 likes.