Rihanna's costume designer Adam Selman makes a provocative debut at New York Fashion Week with lots of lingerie

Adam Selman, a costume designer best known for consistently outfitting Rihanna in vanguard looks, debuted his first ready-to-wear label on Thursday night as part of New York Fashion Week.

His newly-established label, simply titled ‘Adam Selman,’ offers an essence of the famous pop star’s sultry streetwear image, packaged in a more pared-down, feminine form.

The collection, mostly fabricated in black and white, is a study in crop top adaptation, offering scuba-inspired crop tops, button-up crop tops, athletic jersey crop tops, and even a large bow fashioned into a crop top. They were accompanied by a few overcoats, some wide-leg pants, and a smattering of separates influenced by athletic and boudoir sensibilities.



Adam Selman made his New York Fashion Week debut on Thursday evening with a sexually-charged collection.



Mr Selman's designs included lingerie and athletic motifs, most of them showing a lot of skin



His 15-look inaugural collection was inspired by Cosmopolitan magazine covers photographed by Francesco Scavullo in the 1970s. ‘I definitely love the easy sultry vibe of the 1970s,’ Mr Selman told MailOnline of his driving inspiration at Thursday’s presentation.

'I played with layering--I love to layer things but still keep it super sexy,' he said of the collection.

Selman has been independently working as an costume designer since 2010



Mr Selman also found artistic insight in the 1981 supermodel-centric documentary, Beautiful Baby, Beautiful.

Approaching the two references rather straightforwardly, he infused his collection with the forthright sexual motif they both share. Out of the fifteen looks presented, five of them include swimsuit pieces, while four include lingerie items like robes and négligées. To Mr Selman’s credit, five looks included pants.

While Mr Selman’s designs did not exhibit the kind of intellect that would attract cool girls who dress for themselves, there is a massive audience that will likely pounce on his designs.

His clothes are better suited to exhibitionist types--girls who don’t want to think too much, or try too hard, to get attention. In that sense, many women may find his designs immensely useful.

Mr Selman’s design ethos has previously displayed massive intelligence. His singular looks for Rihanna often include an impressive mé lange of references and technical details. They are looks that have helped cement Rihanna’s reputation as a style auteur.

But aside from association, Rihanna was in no way affiliated with Mr Selman’s ready-to-wear debut (though she is thanked in the presentation’s show notes). ‘Rihanna is definitely a muse for me, it’s no secret, but I didn’t necessarily think of her when I was designing this,’ he said.

Rihanna performs at the Victoria's Secret 2012 Fashion Show in one of Selman's designs

Certainly creating a fashion collection requires far different creative skills than those needed to create individual designs for a world-famous personality.



Judging from Thursday’s showing, it seems that while Mr Selman has mastered the art of stage costume, he has a distance to go before perfecting his skills as a ready-to-wear designer (the same was said of the first Rihanna for River Island collection, for which Mr Selman served as head designer).

Many of Selman's designs for spring/summer 2014 were fabricated in black and white



Added troubles may have stemmed from Mr Selman’s two-month deadline to conceptualize both his collection, as well as his entire brand.

‘It just happened like in July actually,’ Mr Selman told us of his decision to establish his own label. ‘I was just like “Oh my God I have two months, fashion week is coming up. Let’s just make this happen.”’ While the decision was gutsy, his label may have benefited from more developmental time.

The creative incubation that lacked in this collection could very well develop in the six months to go until next fashion week. ‘I definitely want to do it next season,’ Mr Selman said of his devotion to his new project.

Selman served as head designer for the first Rihanna for River Island collection, which received mixed critical reviews. (Here, Rihanna poses with models dressed in those designs)

He also says that he has a great desire to retail the line in Asia, especially at the renowned Hong Kong department store Lane Crawford. ‘I love Asia, I want to do a J-pop group, a K-pop group, please just get me in there,’ he said of his admiration for the continent, whose heavily-financed devotion to fashion could help get Mr Selman’s brand off the ground.