Rihanna presented an amfAR award to her “inspirational” friend Tom Ford Wednesday night.
The pop star was given the honour of announcing the celebrity designer favourite at the AIDS research charity’s fifth annual Inspiration Gala in Los Angeles.
Proceeds from the gala benefit amfAR’s numerous initiatives, with tables at the event costing philanthropists as much as $200,000.
Rihanna was tweeting about the honour earlier in the day.
Logging onto social media to share her excitement, she wrote: “Tonight I’m presenting the #amfARInspiration Award to my friend @Tom_Ford. His commitment to @amfAR is truly inspirational.”
Rihanna’s admiration for the designer meanwhile appears to be mutual.
Last year, Tom, who has his own successful label and has worked for fashion houses Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent in the past, says he finds his own inspiration in “extreme” stylists like Rih.
"You have to have a point of inspiration. At one point of my life, it would have been Grace Jones. At one point, it would have been Diana Ross… Whenever I’m working on a collection, everything does have to be real, and those outfits are real to me. If I think, 'OK, who is wearing this and where is she going?' And I think, 'OK, that’s Rihanna, and she’s going to her lawyer’s office in that all-black outfit and she’s hung over and that’s why she’s wearing those glasses. Yet she’s still a rock star,’” he told WWD at the time.
According to amfAR.org, Inspiration events have raised more than $16 million to benefit the organisation since their inception in 2010.
