The color of the year may be Viva Magenta, but Rihanna’s influence is quickly making red all the rage.
On Feb. 12, the “Rude Boy” singer performed a 12-song set at the Super Bowl 2023 halftime show sporting an all-red ensemble, including a custom Alaïa puffer coat and Loewe jumpsuit paired with a bustier and gloves.
However, one of the show-stopping pieces worn by the Savage x Fenty mastermind was the bright red Maison Margiela MM6 x Salomon Cross Low sneakers.
And the shoes sent the internet into a frenzy.
In fact, Rihanna’s performance sent U.S.-based Google searches for “red sneakers” skyrocketing by over 136 percent, which is “currently at an all-time high” according to a recent study by Manchester-based fast-fashion giant Boohoo. Additionally, “Rihanna shoes” garnered over 5,000 searches during the pop icon’s 13-minute performance.
“It’s not the first time she caused red to trend, having previously sent red hair dye flying off the shelves in the early 2010s after dyeing her hair during her Loud era. Google data shows that ‘Rihanna red hair’ is still Googled over 11,000 times every month, showing just how impactful her style is,” said a spokesperson at Boohoo. “She is known for dressing fearlessly, and inspiring others to do the same, which is why she’s so influential.”
Searches for Maison Margiela and Salomon–which released the shoe last fall—were also on the rise in the afterglow of Rihanna’s half-time spectacle. Google Trends reveals queries for “Salomon sneakers” soared 417 percent to a five-year high in the U.S. while ‘MM6’ searches hit a five-year high after spiking 303 percent, according to the findings.
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“Our motivation was to create a shoe that could easily transition between cityscapes and the great outdoors—a single product that both maintained Salomon’s high-performance specifications and also resonated with MM6 Maison Margiela’s contemporary aesthetic,” the MM6 Maison Margiela design team said in a statement.
Adding to Maison Margiela and Salmon’s success, the sneaker sold out two days after Rihanna’s performance in the United Kingdom, and four days afterwards in the U.S. after having been in stock since November, according to retail analyst Karis Munday of Edited, a retail intelligence company.
Searches and purchases for “red” have been on the upswing, trending for the past few months, Edited found.
In fact, within the luxury market, red apparel offerings have increased by 34 percent in womenswear and 55 percent in menswear versus the same period last year, with majority sellouts climbing 136 percent and 167 percent respectively versus 2020, Munday noted.
Additionally, in the mass market, the majority of womenswear sellouts over the past three months have increased by 49 percent compared to last year. More notably, as red continues to stay trendy at awards shows and performances, as seen on “Unholy” singer Sam Smith at the Grammys earlier this month, it saw majority sellouts in the first two weeks of February versus the same period in January, growing by 69 percent for womenswear and 210 percent for menswear, she added.
“Entering our red era, the palette overtook Barbiecore pinks at New York Fashion Week to be a defining color of the city. Confirmed by their presence at key shows, including Sandy Liang, Christian Cowan, & Jason Wu, head-to-toe looks featured colder cherry tones to [fiery] chili shades,” Munday said. “This comes after a slew of award ceremony moments, not forgetting Sam Smith’s red army at the Grammys or Harry Styles‘ red-sequined Gucci blazer at the BRITs.”
In tune with the red trend, MSCHF, the Brooklyn-based art collective and perennial antagonist of deep-pocketed brands, released its latest shoe on Feb. 16 called the Big Red Boot, composed of a TVA rubber shell and an EVA outer and mid-sole, priced at $350.
“Cartoon boots for a Cool 3D World. Cartoonishness is an abstraction that frees us from the constraints of reality. If you kick someone in these boots they go BOING! You never design shoes to be shaped like feet. Big Red Boots are REALLY not shaped like feet, but they are EXTREMELY shaped like boots,” MSCHF said in a press release before the launch.