Anne Hathaway is giving Rihanna credit for helping change the way pregnancy is represented through celebrity fashion. While discussing her own maternity looks, the Oscar-winning actor said Rihanna showed her that pregnancy does not have to mean stepping away from bold or experimental style.
Hathaway made the comments during an appearance on CBS Mornings while promoting her upcoming psychological thriller Verity. During the conversation, host Gayle King praised Hathaway for confidently embracing her baby bump during recent public appearances, prompting the actor to acknowledge the influence Rihanna has had on maternity fashion.
“I think we have Rihanna to thank,” Hathaway said. “She changed the game.”
For Hathaway, Rihanna's influence goes beyond any single outfit or trend. Instead, it was the way Rihanna approached pregnancy as another opportunity to express herself through clothing. Rather than treating a growing baby bump as something that needed to be hidden, Rihanna made it an important part of her overall look.
“When I saw her, what she was doing with her maternity style, I just realized that I just needed to use my imagination and go out there and have more fun,” Hathaway explained.
Rihanna's approach became especially noticeable during her first pregnancy with her son RZA in 2022. At a time when many traditional maternity looks centered on loose clothing and silhouettes designed to conceal the stomach, Rihanna repeatedly chose outfits that did the opposite.
She appeared in crop tops, low-rise jeans, sheer dresses and body-conscious designer looks that placed her growing belly at the center of her styling. Accessories and jewelry were also used to build outfits around her pregnancy rather than cover it up.
The approach quickly became one of the most recognizable examples of modern celebrity maternity fashion. Rihanna's outfits generated widespread discussion because they challenged the idea that pregnancy automatically required a more conservative wardrobe.
Her influence continued during her second pregnancy. Rihanna revealed that she was expecting her second child during her 2023 Super Bowl halftime performance, making the announcement in front of a massive global television audience.
Rather than making a separate announcement before the performance, Rihanna allowed her appearance to deliver the news. She wore a bright red Loewe jumpsuit that emphasized her pregnancy, turning what could have been a conventional celebrity announcement into one of the most memorable moments of the performance.
Rihanna's willingness to make her pregnancy part of her public image also helped demonstrate how maternity fashion could be treated as a creative space. Her looks were not built around hiding her changing body but around incorporating it into the overall design.
Hathaway appears to be taking a similar approach during her own third pregnancy. One of the recent looks highlighted by King featured Hathaway wearing jeans with a Prabal Gurung top that left her stomach exposed.
Rather than being hesitant about the outfit, Hathaway made it clear that she was excited about the look and the opportunity to experiment with her wardrobe while pregnant.
“I’m really excited to wear it,” she said.
The fashion conversation comes as Hathaway prepares to welcome her third child with her husband, Adam Shulman. The couple already has two sons, one who is 10 years old and another who is nearly seven.
Hathaway has also had a particularly busy professional year, with five films involving the actor. Despite her demanding schedule, she said that she and Shulman are placing their attention on their family as they prepare for another major change.
“We’re thrilled. We’re overjoyed,” Hathaway said. “But what we’re really focused on right now is actually just taking in still being a family of four because everything’s going to change for us, but it’s really going to change for our kids.”
Her comments reflect another side of pregnancy that extends beyond the red carpet. While fashion has become part of the public conversation surrounding her pregnancy, Hathaway said the family is also conscious of how the arrival of another child will affect their two sons.
Rihanna, meanwhile, has continued to combine motherhood with high-fashion moments. Her approach to parenting and fashion has increasingly become part of her public image, particularly as she introduces her children to the world.
Earlier this year, Rihanna's daughter Rocki appeared publicly in W's Pop Issue, wearing a custom Dior Haute Couture diaper and headpiece created by designer Jonathan Anderson.
The outfit represented another unusual intersection between luxury fashion and motherhood, with the custom piece becoming a talking point because of its couture construction.
“The haute couture diaper is definitely a first for Dior,” Anderson told W.
The moment also reflects how Rihanna has continued to bring her distinctive approach to fashion into her life as a mother. From her own maternity looks to the way her children appear in high-fashion settings, she has consistently treated motherhood as something that can coexist with experimentation and personal style.
For Hathaway, that influence appears to have provided a different way of looking at her own pregnancy wardrobe. Rather than following a strict set of rules about what maternity fashion should look like, she has embraced the idea of dressing according to her personality and having fun with the process.
Her comments also highlight how celebrity fashion trends can influence other public figures, particularly when someone breaks away from established expectations and creates a style that becomes widely recognized.
Rihanna's maternity looks did not simply introduce individual outfits to the public. They helped create a broader conversation about how pregnant women can approach fashion, body confidence and personal expression during pregnancy.
Now, Hathaway is bringing her own interpretation to that idea as she prepares to become a mother of three, with her recent red-carpet appearances showing that she is comfortable making her pregnancy part of her fashion choices rather than something to dress around.
