The superstar steps out in Paris wearing a Frankensteinian denim creation that fuses jeans with a floor-length panel.
Rihanna has built a reputation for making virtually anything look cool, and her latest outing in Paris proves no exception. The musician and entrepreneur, known for taking fashion risks and injecting fun into her wardrobe, has spent recent weeks in clashing animal prints, footless tights, and Y2K-inspired velour tracksuits. Now she has introduced what may become fall's most talked-about garment: the skean, a portmanteau of skirt and jean.
A denim hybrid turns heads in Paris
Emerging from dinner at Cesar restaurant, Rihanna wore jeans that appeared dramatically different from each side. The left looked like standard light-wash denim, while the right featured an extended floor-length panel resembling a skirt. She kept the rest of the outfit understated: a black zip-up hoodie, a leather Dior bag, and Miu Miu snakeskin sneakers.
The piece arrives as designers have spent the fall season reimagining classic jeans in unexpected ways. Diesel presented denim briefs, A.W.A.K.E. Mode showed backwards jean shirt-dresses, and Stella McCartney included bejeweled jeans in her collection. The overarching theme has been subverting traditional denim with twisted, unconventional approaches. Among these experiments, the skirt-jean stands out as particularly intriguing.
Early signs of a coming trend
Several brands have already released similar concepts. Bettter offers jeans with a built-in denim wrap skirt, while Agolde sells jeans with an attached denim peplum skirt. Given Rihanna's track record of influencing global trends, the skean may soon move from niche offering to widespread phenomenon.