When I ask Rihanna – who is dressed in some outsized tailoring in the same kaolin shade of the Phatty creepers she is here to promote – whether she regrets anything she’s worn on the red carpet, she experiences a sudden jolt of déjà vu. “Why would you put me on the spot like this!” she demands, raising a Balmain Jolie Madame to her face and stifling an awkward laugh. “But, oh my God, it was something similar to this, which is kind of ironic. It was a brown tan suit that we all loved so much, but the day we put it on I was like, ‘Mmm, it’s giving UPS driver,’ and that is not cute. Not for the red carpet anyways.”

Given that creepers are a cornerstone of emo culture, might Rihanna now be plotting an alt-girl aesthetic, in the tradition of just about every other famous person in 2024? “I’m a Pisces,” she says, with an emphatic glance. “We’re always gonna be emo, that literally is the definition of our zodiac sign. I like to put my foot down, draw my boundaries, but I also like to have fun. I like juxtaposition.”

Rihanna regrets wearing this look.

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But was happy to wear this look.

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To absolutely no one’s surprise, Rihanna considers the Guo Pei gown she wore to the 2015 Met Gala to be among her proudest fashion accomplishments. “Nobody will ever forget that and I will never forget the feeling of discovering that designer based off of the design challenge that Anna gave me,” she says. “And damn! You know what, no one would ever expect this, but there’s also the Stella McCartney crop top and skirt, and the party dress that she made me for that same [Met Gala] with my little ass crack out.”

Even less surprising, when it comes to her look for the upcoming 2024 Met Gala, Rihanna says: “I’m gonna wear Fenty something! Fenty Beauty, Fenty Skin, Fenty Savage…” It will, however, be demure. “I’ve done so much sh** in my life. I’ve had my nipples out, my panties out. But now, those are the things which, I guess as a mum and an evolved young lady – emphasis on young – there are things I feel like I would never do. Like, ‘Oh my God, I really did that? Nips out?’”

Rihanna at the 2014 Met Gala.

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Rihanna at the 2014 Met Gala after party.

Ray Tamarra