Pop singer Rihanna launched her first clothing line with British high-street retailer River Island, adding A-list glitz to the British leg of the international fashion circuit.

The fashion credentials of the British high street have flourished in recent years as more household clothing brands inch onto the catwalks of major fashion centres.

Models strutted in a line through a tiered catwalk of five square compartments at Rihanna’s show, pausing in each to showcase midriff-bearing mesh tops and yellow shift dresses.

Denim tops teamed with slouchy jeans and monochrome dresses with thigh-high slits mirrored the Barbados-born singer’s dressed-down but raunchy style.

Rihanna, a chart-topping R&B star, has already made a foray into fashion, teaming up with Armani Jeans in 2011.

The boyish designs are Rihanna’s first with River Island, a clothing chain that traces its history on Britain’s high streets back more than 60 years and is known for its youthful clientele.