Pop diva Britney Spears made a glamorous guest appearance in a custom black patent leather bunny mask by Syren Couture during Rihanna's performance of her current hit, "S&M," at Sunday's Billboard Music Awards. So that's "who" Brit Brit was wearing, huh? She looked slamming and scorching as usual.
Though the masquerade-style mask covered the upper part of Spears' face, the roar of an appreciative audience made it clear that they immediately recognized the blonde diva despite her disguise, when she rose into view partway through Rihanna's show, seated on a towering throne. Sexy!
The elegant but mysterious fetish style mask is reminiscent of those by seminal '70s designer Halston, who created one in white mink for Candace Bergen to wear to Truman Capote's Black & White Ball.
Syren Couture also made both a black and a white bunny mask – the white one was intended for Rihanna, to go with her all-white bondage-inspired costume – but only Britney wound up wearing hers at the Billboard Awards. However, Syren designers O'Shay Nunn and Christina Wheeler actually based their creations not on the Halston rabbit masks, but on photos of earlier versions made by Rihanna's stylist, Mel Ottenberg, who brought them the project. Well, even though RiRi nixed her leather bunny mask, we think it's super hot that Brit Brit wore hers.
Nunn explained that the most intricate part of the process was constructing a three-dimensional shape from a two-dimensional piece of leather. He and Wheeler were determined to use a single sheet of leather for each mask to get the smoothest look, but in order to be as flattering as possible, each mask had to be tailored to suit the contours of each of the pop stars' facial features. This meant conflating the process of making samples; doing fittings; and then further refining the designs into a tightly-scheduled 24-hour timeline, in order to deliver the finished products to Ottenberg in time.
Syren Couture is LA based and supplies handmade erotic clothing and costumes for films, TV and red carpets. Sexalicious. Sexified. Spears'ed!
What did you think of Britney Spears' leather bunny mask during her Billboard Music Awards performance? Do you think Rihanna should have worn hers?