Rihanna honoured as fashion icon of the year

NEW YORK - Donning a scintillating see-through gown, R&B superstar Rihanna has been honoured as fashion icon of the year for her sense of style and spunk.

The singer received the award late Monday from the Council of Fashion Designers of America at a soiree in New York's Lincoln Center featuring the industry's elite.

It was here that Rihanna, her revealing sheer Swarovski crystal-encrusted dress leaving little to the imagination, stole the show as she strutted down the red carpet in the provocative Adam Selman creation.

Powerful Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour presented the prize to the 26-year-old recording artist, who has flanked the cover of the prestigious magazine that recently deemed her "fashion's most exciting new muse." Diane von Furstenberg, the president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America famed for her wrap dresses, admitted as much, telling AFP: "I think she's hot!" Previous winners include Lady Gaga, Kate Moss and Nicole Kidman.

Another of the night's laureates was Joseph Altuzarra, born in Paris to a French father and Chinese-American mother, who took the womenswear designer of the year award.