Rihanna’s heavily pregnant appearance on the cover of US Vogue has sent her millions of fans into a social media frenzy.
The Barbadian singer has been photographed wearing a red lace bodysuit by Alaia with matching gloves and stilettos, accessorised with Chopard earrings on the front page of the renowned fashion magazine.
The interview, written by editor Chioma Nnadi, is accompanied by a number of high-fashion photographs of the singer, all shot by Annie Leibovitz.
Rihanna, who is in her third trimester, has put her growing baby bump front and centre whenever she has appeared in public in recent months, baring it with crop tops, open-front shirts and jackets, and sheer or cut-out dresses.
Her maternity fashion is no different in the magazine, as she poses while wrapped in a white duvet coat by Marc Jacobs and underwear from her own lingerie brand, Savage X Fenty, as well as Manolo Blahnik stilettos.
In another photograph, she stands unbothered as a crew of stylists, makeup artists and videographers move around her, wearing just a Dior jacket over her shoulders, with a matching gloved hand covering her breasts.
In a third photograph, she wears a sheer Jean Paul Gaultier Haute Couture by Gelnn Martens gown and shoes by Alaia, while another image shows her laying on a chaise longue wearing a Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello coat and Messika belly chains draped across her bump.
On social media, fans gushed about the photographs, describing them as “art”.
“Stop scrolling and admire Rihanna X Vogue US May issue [sic],” one person wrote, while sharing their favourite images from the shoot.
Another said: “Rihanna looks so f***ing good for her Vogue shoot/cover (are we surprised? No) like she really ate it up… I’m gonna pass out.”
A third added: “You knew we were gonna get a pregnant Rihanna Vogue cover, but this spread is even better than we deserved.”
Rihanna, 34, is expecting her first child with rapper A$AP Rocky. She announced her pregnancy in January in People, which published photographs of her and A$AP holding hands and smiling one another as she debuted her baby bump.
In the interview with Vogue, she said of her maternity style: “When I found out I was pregnant, I thought to myself, there’s no way I’m going to go shopping in no maternity aisle.
“I’m sorry – it’s too much fun to get dressed up. I’m not going to let that part disappear because my body is changing.”