Rihanna Reveals Her Auctioneer Talents at the Parsons Benefit
By Hilary Weaver. Photos: Getty Images.
Rihanna might want to consider a new side gig. On Monday night's 69th annual Parsons New School Benefit in New York City, the superstar took hold of the microphone to auction off tickets to her own Fenty Puma fashion show at New York Fashion Week in September. “Anybody want to beat that?,” she called across the room as the numbers hit $12,000. “I’ll even style you for the show.” Minutes later, the auction heated up, and the tickets went for $24,000.
But Rihanna wasn’t just there to sharpen her auctioneering skills. The singer and fashion designer was one of three women at the benefit as a special honoree. She was joined by Karen Katz, president and chief executive office Neiman Marcus Group and Eileen Fisher, designer and founder of her eponymous brand. “No one can actually share the stage with [Rihanna],” Katz joked in her own onstage comments.
Katz was right. Following the auction, a runway show, and award presentation for senior Parsons students, Rihanna was the main focus of the evening, even when she shone the spotlight right back on the students who admired her.
More: The 20 Most Satisfying TV Kisses of All Time
“I don’t think you get celebrated enough,” she said. “You should be celebrated for every aspect of your growth and your growing pains. You should be celebrated for your creativity, for your fearlessness, your persistence and your determination . . . for being different, for not being given enough credit. For not having to use eye cream.”
Rihanna, who, was just 16 when she signed her first recording contract, said she sees a pattern when it comes to the way society treats the Millennial generation.
“We often tear our youth down when we should be building them up,” she said. “You are all the next generation. We need to invest in you.”
The evening ended with Rihanna and Donna Karan announcing their new project in partnership with Parsons, a merchandise line for Rihanna’s Clara Lionel Foundation, which fights worldwide injustice, inequality, and poverty. Together with Karan, Rihanna announced the winners of the Design Fellowship Program, which will send three Parsons students to Port-au-Prince this June to work with local artists on the fashion line
“I’m here to say that I’m listening, I’m watching, and you’re up next,” she said to the hopeful designers. If these up-and-coming fashion stars ever need their mentor, all they likely have to do is listen for her. She’s pretty handy with that auctioneer's microphone.
This story originally appeared on Vanity Fair.
More from Vanity Fair:
The Evolution of Off-Duty Model Style
Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez, and More Stars Who’ve Performed Pregnant
How Princess Diana Became a Fashion Icon
