Look of the Week: Rihanna, baby Rocki and Dior’s first ever couture diaper

By Leah Dolan, CNN

(CNN) — This week, Rihanna fronted the cover of W Magazine in head-to-toe Dior. Her eyes were ringed in purple shadow, her cheeks blended with orange blush, and a whacky lilac buccaneer-style hat by milliner Stephen Jones framed her face. And yet even with all that to look at, all eyes were on baby Rocki — her 7-month-old daughter, happily cradled in her arms.

Rihanna the mother has been the theme of many of her magazine covers and campaigns. She fronted HommeGirls and US Vogue while heavily pregnant, and has turned campaign shoots for her clothing brand Savage x Fenty into family portraits. Two of her children – eldest son Rza and now little Rocki – have had major fashion magazine spreads before their first birthdays.

But despite Rihanna’s growing family, little has changed with regard to her sartorial DNA. The viral Vogue cover of a pregnant Rihanna, captured by Annie Leibowitz in 2022, made waves for the way the pop star’s lacey bustier catsuit challenged expectations of maternity wear. And when Rihanna debuted Rza to the world via a British Vogue cover in 2023, the lead photo showed her strutting ahead on the beach in a glitzy Chanel gown while partner A$AP Rocky nuzzled the happy baby. This latest shoot, with the multi-hyphenate mogul decked out in full-blown fantasy fashion, is no different.

But back to Rocki, who is the real star of this Look of the Week. For her public debut, Rocki chose — or at least, someone chose for her — a custom diaper by Dior. “The haute couture diaper is definitely a first for Dior,” Jonathan Anderson, the label’s creative director, told the magazine. “When Rihanna asks for something, she is already ahead of what is happening. She is thinking outside the box.”

Asking one of fashion’s most influential and admired designers to make your child a diaper is truly a testament to Rihanna’s star power. But Anderson is clearly amused, and has already made a number of pieces for the Mayers offspring (the children use their father’s surname). Last summer, he created miniatures of the opening looks from Spring-Summer 2026 menswear, his first Dior collection, for Rza and Riot. The boys wore their tiny tweeds and mini ties to the premiere of the “Smurfs” movie, in which Rihanna voiced Smurfette. This isn’t Rocki’s first time wearing the storied luxury brand either (scoff!). In fact, earlier this month she upped the ante with a vintage knitted hat from Dior’s 2002 collection by John Galliano. Archival babywear.

While the diaper is new territory for the house, children’s clothes are not. Baby Dior, the brand’s kids range, was founded in 1967 by Marc Bohan. The Parisian boutique was inaugurated by Grace Kelly, Princess Grace of Monaco, a long time friend of the brand. A news report from the New York Times called the store “a charming place for the impulsive rich.” But even before the brand had an official line, Christian Dior himself would make special occasion outfits for the children of his favorite clients. Bohan carried on that tradition, while also designing two collections a year for Baby Dior, often making miniatures of Elizabeth Taylor’s purchases for her daughter, Liza, which the pair would go out wearing together.

Today, designer kidswear is a booming, multi-billion dollar industry. But there’s still something pleasing in how Rihanna extends her love for artful fashion into areas of her life where others might not deem it ‘necessary’ — commissioning custom outfits for her babies, who will invariably grow out of these clothes in almost the same time it takes to make them, and tracking down archival pieces. It’s pure love of the game. As milliner Jones told W Magazine: “She is as devoted to fashion as fashion is devoted to her.”

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