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Victoria’s Secret reunion: Sara Sampaio, Doutzen Kroes and Jourdan Dunn in the Fenty x Puma FROW
Credit: Instagram @doutzenkroes

So the most hyped show of the most high-stakes fashion week just happened at the grandiose Hotel Salomon de Rothschild in Paris and while there was plenty on the runway and backstage to ogle, the most chat-worthy action really happened outside the front door.

Given Rihanna’s Fenty x PUMA range success has been built mostly on its street cool vibe and celebrity fans, the Victoria’s Secret model-studded front row of her first ever Paris Fashion Week show was always going to be a spectacle. Little surprise, too, most famous faces turned up wearing pieces from the capsule range released earlier this month.

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Doetzen Kroes
Credit: Getty Images

Doetzen Kroes did her best Sporty Spice impersonation in a Fenty x PUMA cropped sweat top and track pants, as did Elena Perminova (the model wife of a Russian billionaire) in a black lace-up micro crop from the range released earlier this month. Jourdan Dunn mirrored Perminova’s top choice buy in cream, teamed with the matching lace-up flare pants.

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Elena Perminova
Credit: Getty Images

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Jourdan Dunn
Credit: Instagram @jourdandunn 

Actress Adele Exarchopolous donned an oversized Fenty x PUMA sweat top and thigh-high boots and some out-there green lipstick and Mickey Mouse ear buns as proof you don’t always need to be a supermodel to wear Rihanna’s form-fitting designs.

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Adele Exarchopolous
Credit: Getty Images

Sara Sampaio’s take on friend Rihanna’s sports luxe range was more in line with the Victoria’s Secret aesthetic: a lace choker, snaking gold sandals, Chloe chain bag and a clingy off-the-shoulder dress from the latest collection.

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Sara Sampaio
Credit: Getty Images

That all said, the stand-out look from the FROW was express delivered by Italian fashion blogger Chaira Ferragni. Her fierce, bondage-style leather Anthony Vaccarello mini skirt topped with an Off-White sweat top with cross-over back was a stark contrast to the candy pink ensemble worn by Rihanna for her runway debut.

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Chiara Ferragni
Credit: Getty Images

The show itself? Inspired by the idea of “Marie Antoinette at the gym” (which explains the elegant chandelier-lit Parisian venue for a sportswear presentation), one American news site scathingly deemed the collection “designed to look great on Rihanna and fashion models only”.

SEE ALL OF THE FENTY X PUMA BY RIHANNA SS17 RUNWAY LOOKS HERE. 

The fairy-floss pink look the singer donned for her final runway bow looks great in photos, but isn’t something your average style-focused woman would walk out the front door in. (Which, let’s be real, probably suits Rihanna just fine.)

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Rihanna in her own designs during the finale of her Fenty x PUMA SS17 show
Credit: NOWFASHION

That aside, the pastel colour palette was unusual for sportswear and is sure to be a hit with customers. The lingerie-inspired with lacy fabrics might not catch on quite as quickly, but staple hoodies and track pants in army green and nude tones are commercial gold. Odds on, this head-to-toe luxe copper brown number worn by Rihanna backstage will sell out in minutes when it hits stores. We feel a pearl ankle-chain movement coming on…

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Rihanna backstage at Fenty x Puma SS17
Credit: Getty Images