It’s hard not to notice Rihanna’s Rolling Stone cover. The pop star’s flawless booty takes center stage, barely covered by a teeny-tiny pair of denim hot pants. Only they’re not denim. The magic booty “shorts” are actually “metal mesh shorts” according to the credits (Rihanna tweeted that they were “chain mail”), custom made by Michael Schmidt Studios for the shoot’s stylist, B. Akerlund.

You might have heard of B. Akerlund–she’s also styled Lady Gaga (she styled Gaga’s bubbly Rolling Stone cover and the video for “Paparazzi”), Madonna, and countless other pop icons. So we had to know, just what was she thinking with those shorts?

“The inspiration was if Rihanna and Kid Rock had a baby,” she told us. Fair enough. Let’s just hope that doesn’t actually happen IRL.