pretty in print

Rihanna Is the Chicest Person Alive and She Made a Book Just to Prove It

Photo: Vulture and Courtesy of Phaidon

No one was doubting the legitimacy of Rihanna’s cool. She’s probably the only celebrity who both has the receipts and the spine to cuss the doubters out. But her new visual autobiography (simply named Rihanna) somehow doubles down on the cool by showing the less glamorous parts, not just the glossy ones. Eating a mango? Stunning. Gone swimming? Graceful. Getting ready in a car? Masterful. It’d be rude if it wasn’t so iconic. With the massive coffee-table book out today, available online at therihannabook.com, here are some of our favorite everyday Rihanna moments from Rihanna.

Rihanna onstage in white — Estadio Nacional, Santiago, Chile, 2015 (pages 6-7). Photo: Dennis Leupold/Courtesy of Phaidon

Standing at 16 inches tall, the print version of this photo is large enough for you to jump right in and hang out onstage à la children’s program Blue’s Clues. Wait, maybe we should write that fanfic?

Day off, Crete, Greece, 2013 (page 169). Photo: Dennis Leupold/Courtesy of Phaidon

The caption for this photo reads: “Day off, Crete.†Day off? She’s serving looks like this in the off-season?

With Melissa Forde, Leandra Goodridge, and Sonita Alexander, New Year’s Eve, New York, 2014 (page 211, bottom). Photo: Dennis Leupold/Courtesy of Phaidon

This pose! Everything she does is art, so thank goodness someone is capturing it all.

With Melissa Forde, Oahu, Hawaii, 2015 (page 344). Photo: Dennis Leupold/Courtesy of Phaidon

She could drop just this photo, say, “This is the album,†and never work again and we would support that.

Rio de Janeiro, 2014 (pages 220-221). Photo: Dennis Leupold/Courtesy of Phaidon

Rihanna’s staple vacation look. See: her recent Instagram catwalk wearing a similar all-black bikini. If it ain’t broke …

En route to Christian Dior show, Paris, 2014 (pages 12-13). Photo: Dennis Leupold/Courtesy of Phaidon

Would happily trade lives with that hairspray, those sunglasses, those gloves, that necklace, really anything in her proximity.

Backstage with Nadine “Hi-Hat†Ruffin, Monica Fenty, Naphia White, and Mylah Morales, Anti World Tour, AmericanAirlines Arena, Miami, 2016 (pages 432-433). Photo: Dennis Leupold/Courtesy of Phaidon

The legendary belt boots. A perfect example of how Rihanna can make even the wildest clothing items look totally natural. That’s what we call a fashion icon, okay!

Turks and Caicos, 2018 (page 494). Photo: Dennis Leupold/Courtesy of Phaidon

Suddenly we need to buy a lot of Fenty body highlighter.

Rihanna’s New Book Proves She’s the Chicest Person Alive