“We are on set of W,” a sultry, off-the-runway clad Rihanna said directly to the camera during her W mag cover shoot with her daughter, Rocki Irish Mayers. “The latest fashion killa just joined our set and she kinda outshined me,” Rihanna gushed over her daughter. “Last shoot we’ll ever do together,” she joked.

Rihanna does not do anything halfway, and her latest cover moment is proof. The new spread, photographed by Tim Walker and styled by Jahleel Weaver, features Rihanna alongside baby Rocki in what W calls the little girl’s first public appearance. The editorial turns into a full-on fashion fantasy, with Rocki dressed in a custom Dior Haute Couture diaper and headpiece created by Jonathan Anderson just for her. Rihanna cooed to Rocki and said, “Who’s the high fashion baby? Who is in couture 24 hours after the runway?

“Everybody come and look at my wigs!” Rihanna is heard screaming in the BTS video. Hairstylist Mustafa Yanaz sculpted a sideways beehive-esque moment that only Rihanna could rock. There were also feathers, lace, and other sculptured hair pieces that completed Rihanna’s looks like no other!

The cover story itself is all about Rihanna’s larger-than-life impact, but the power is in the BTS details. W’s credits show a stacked creative team behind the images: editor-in-chief Sara Moonves, creative directors Kevin Tekinel and Charles Levai, video by Carolyn Girondo and Russell Elliot, writer Maxine Wally, hair by Mustafa Yanaz using Fenty Hair (a flex for the bad gal mogul), makeup by Daniel Sällström using Fenty Beauty and Fenty Skin (another flex), nails by Jenny Longworth, set design by Miguel Bento, movement direction by Pat Boguslawski and production by 138 Productions. 

It’s the kind of polished roster that makes sense for Rihanna, given her brand of stardom has always been about turning a photo shoot into a high fashion show. Rihanna has spent more than two decades reshaping music, beauty, and fashion, from her early breakout with “Pon de Replay” to the launch of Fenty Beauty and Savage X Fenty, and now, both mogul and mother. 

The cover story also leans into the people who know her best. A$AP Rocky, the father of Rihanna’s three children, described her as “magic,” Mary J. Blige said she “completely raised the bar,” and SZA recalled how Rihanna made sure she looked hot for one of her first major performances. That is the Rihanna formula in a nutshell: high style, high standards, and a lot of love for the people in her orbit. 

If the internet needed another reminder that Rihanna still sets the pace, this W shoot delivered it. Baby Rocki’s adorable Dior debut, Walker’s sharp lens, Weaver’s impeccable styling, and Rihanna’s instinct for fashion all came together to solidify the superstar as the fashion icon that she is.