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How Rihanna's Savage x Fenty show is helping the fashion industry

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After the announcement that Rihanna, singer-turned-designer, was teaming up with Amazon Prime to exclusively stream her Savage x Fenty lingerie show, it soon became the most highly anticipated event of New York Fashion Week. The show included performances from Big Sean, Migos, A$AP Ferg, Halsey and Normani, who was particularly praised for her impressive dancehall routine. Stars lined the red carpet for the event including Paris Hilton, Kacey Musgraves, Ashley Benson, Hailee Steinfield, Derek Blasberg and Patrick Schwarzenegger.

The visionary show certainly did not disappoint. Rihanna has been labelled as the “queen of diversity” by fans after including women of all different shapes, sizes, disabilities, identities and ethnicities. Rihanna said in the introduction of the Amazon special: “Every woman deserves to feel sexy. We are multi-faceted and I want women to embrace that to the fullest.” From the majestic looks suitable for all, to Rihanna’s dance opening, it was a show to be remembered. Rihanna is shown in the behind-the-scenes footage mentioning she is “not trying to make history”, however this is what she effortlessly achieved.

The show’s models included the Hadid sisters, Joan Smalls and Cara Delevingne. Transgender actress Laverne Cox, who is best known for her role in Orange Is The New Black, also modelled in the show; this came as a breath of fresh air in the fashion industry after Victoria’s Secret now departed chief marketing officer, Ed Razek, made offensive comments in an interview with Vogue last year. He said: “Shouldn’t you have transsexuals in the show? No. No, I don’t think we should. Well, why not? Because the show is a fantasy. It’s a 42 minute entertainment special. That’s what it is.” Razek has since apologised for his “insensitive” comment.

In my opinion, comments like these are one of the main reasons why the brand has been in a steady decline over the past few years. I believe Victoria’s Secret only markets to women who fit into a certain image. This concept doesn’t make sense to me as surely you would aim to attract all potential customers, not just women who fit into a certain look?

Rihanna has been described as “stomping on every other lingerie companies neck” on social media and this is a well-deserved statement as the representation of her collection comes as a necessary change to the fashion industry.