By: Tony Best

Rihanna, the Grammy-award winning pop icon from the Caribbean, has exchanged her tears following her grandmother’s death from cancer, for a smile as she announced she is set to design a collection for high streetwear brand River Island.

          “I’ve been wanting to design my own collection for sometime,” Rihanna wrote on her website. “River Island is the perfect partner for me to collaborate with and working with a British, family run business also really appealed to me. I fund London really inspiring and River Island loves to have fun with clothes.”

          The singer, considered one of the world’s best known artistes, was performing in Sweden’s Music Festival on July 1 when she received word that her “beloved” grandmother, Clara Brathwaite had died in New York after a fight with cancer. Her body was flown to Barbados where it was cremated.

          Ms. Brathwaite who was from Guyana lived in Brooklyn for many years with her husband Lionel Brathwaite, a Barbadian. The two grandparents met in Guyana and then moved to Barbados before coming to New York. Rihanna was born and raised in Barbados and describes herself as a Bajan.