Rihanna accused of cultural appropriation over Harper's Bazaar China Magazine cover

Rihanna has been accused of cultural appropriation following the unveiling of her August 2019 cover for Harper’s Bazaar China.

Last week Tuesday, the world’s richest female musician shared a first look at her latest photo shoot for the magazine.

In the image, the fashion mogul can be seen wearing a vibrant blue gown that features pleated, billowing sleeves and a bright red sash tied at her waist.

Harper's Bazaar China also shared a series of images from the photo shoot on its own Instagram account, where it revealed that the idea behind the cover was to show how a “Western style icon meets Eastern aesthetic”.

Despite the magazine sharing its intentions behind the images, many people on social media have accused the publication and singer of cultural appropriation.

“As much as I love Rihanna how is this not deemed as cultural appropriation?” one person asked.

Another added: “So nodoby gunna call Rihanna out for cultural appropriation...hmm I see [sic].”

Others dragged Kim Kardashian and Kendall Jenner into the debate after both reality stars had recently been accused of cultural appropriation – Jenner for a Vogue cover where she wore a hairstyle many felt was similar to an afro and Kardashian for her new shapewear line which she named Kimono.

“Why is Kim not allowed to call her brand Kimono cos it’s cultural appropriation yet Rihanna can do s*** like this?? Just doesn’t sit right with me,” one person tweeted. 

Another agreed, adding: “Wait a minute when Kendal Jenner was on the cover of a magazine with an 'afro' people were screaming cultural appropriation but when Rihanna dresses up like this, nobody says anything, it's art, it's glam.”

In response to the criticism, many people defended the photo shoot by explaining that the images were made for a Chinese audience by Chinese creatives.“Rihanna's Harper's Bazaar China photo shoot is not cultural appropriation at all,” one person tweeted.

"The whole team behind the photo shoot (stylist, photographers, chief/visual editors) were Chinese.”

Another added: “It is so interesting how people have been impulsively calling Rihanna’s photo shoot in Harper’s Bazaar China as ‘cultural appropriation’ when the entire creative team consists of Chinese artists.”