Jonathan Anderson, a fashion designer native of Co Derry, designed Rihanna’s outfit for her Super Bowl LVII halftime show on February 12.
“LOEWE designs a flight-inspired look for @badgalriri’s much-anticipated performance at the #SuperBowl halftime show,” the fashion brand where Anderson is the creative director said in a social media post on Sunday night.
"I’m so excited to have been part of this unforgettable moment,” Anderson said.
“Rihanna is a true icon, and working with her to bring these stage looks to life feels like a wild, wonderful dream.”
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Loewe described its bespoke piece for Rihanna as such: “Comprised of multiple layers and textures, the look’s bold red catsuit formed a sleek foundation in silk jersey, with a matching cotton canvas flight suit and a made-to-measure corset in sculpted leather.”
According to Women’s Wear Daily, Rihanna has previously worn Loewe Paula’s Ibiza sunglasses, but never a full ready-to-wear look collection publicly outside of fashion magazine shoots.
On Instagram, Anderson shared an up-close look at the red leather corset donned by Rihanna during her spectacular Super Bowl LVII halftime show performance:
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Anderson, 38, is a native of Magherafelt in Co Derry where he grew up with three siblings. His mother Heather Buckley was a teacher, while his father Willie Anderson was a renowned Irish rugby player and coach.
In 2005, Anderson graduated from the London College of Fashion after a stint in Washington, DC where he studied acting followed by a period in Dublin where he worked at Brown Thomas.
In 2008, he founded his fashion label JW Anderson and in 2013, the luxury conglomerate Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH) took a minority stake in the label. That same year, he was made the Creative Director for Loewe.
In 2019, Anderson told the Irish Examiner that he attributes his ability to sell a collection’s narrative, his storytelling, to his Irishness, calling literature the country’s greatest export. He shares his mother’s love of Seamus Heaney, one of whose readings he was taken to as a little boy.
While Anderson is rightly celebrating his design being worn by one of the world's biggest performers on the world's biggest stage (Rihanna's halftime show had a viewership of 28.5 million, Forbes reported), it was Rihanna's surprise pregnancy reveal - facilitated, of course, by the stunning red ensemble - that wowed viewers.
This wasn't the nine-time Grammy winner's first creative collaboration, so to speak, with Northern Ireland. In 2011, Rihanna filmed the music video for her hit "We Found Love" - which she performed on Sunday night - in Co Down and North Belfast.
You can watch the music video for "We Found Love," filmed in Northern Ireland, here:
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