At this point we all know Rihanna does whatever Rihanna wants. Create an athleisure line with no formal design training? Check. 40 shades of makeup when everyone else is doing only half as much? Check. So it's to be expected that her lingerie show for Savage x Fenty would be unlike anything the fashion industry has ever seen.
The invite called for an “ immersive experience” set in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Multiple vignettes were set up—botanical domes, a green-house like box, hydroponics, and natural floral, creating a nature-filled world inhabited by Rihanna's Savages. “I feel like I’m in FernGully,” I mentioned shortly before I spotted the first model/dancer hit one of the many stages. Dressed in a black deep-V body suit, she was joined by another dancer in a white T and boxer shorts. As they commenced with choreography, more women of all shapes, sizes and ethnicities appeared. So this is what effortless inclusion looks like, huh?
Of course the big names were there: Gigi and Bella Hadid, a very pregnant Slick Woods, Joan Smalls, Paloma Elsesser. But it was the unknown names who really caught the standing audience's attention. Take for example, the other pregnant woman who danced and laughed with her fellow models. Or the athletic beauty wearing a blue du-rag that matched her bra and pant set. In Rihanna’s universe it’s a celebration of all women, famous or not.
As for the lingerie, it is what it is. Nothing too ground breaking, but sure-to-be beloved by all. Rihanna showed bold and unapologetic colors (lime green, bright blue, crimson red), in unapologetic cuts, on unapologetic bodies.
And that’s why she wins. This sort of representation doesn't make its consumers feel tokenized or like the brand views "diversity" as a buzzword. Incredibly simple if you think about it. Or maybe Ri just makes it look so easy. Either way that’s the genius of Savage x Fenty.
Nikki Ogunnaike is the senior digital director of Harper's Bazaar, where she oversees a team of editors and writers who cover the culture of style across the website, video, and social media. She has previously held roles at GQ, ELLE, Glamour, InStyle, and Vanity Fair. You may also recognize Nikki from her time as the host of Snapchat’s Online, IRL and IGTV's The Run Through. In her free time Nikki enjoys running half marathons, learning about wine, and watching reality TV without an ounce of shame.
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