Rihanna, CEO of the LVMH brand Fenty, lingerie brand X Savage and Fenty Beauty, has yet again hit the ball out the park in her newest collection of lingerie. The most recent collection was broadcasted by Amazon Prime and was a major event in Spring Summer 2020 New York Fashion week. The advertisement I chose to talk about was from one of her earlier collections which debuted September of 2018. Rihanna promotes her collections as one word: inclusive. Her brand is deeply rooted in representing all ethnicities, body shapes, and genders. On her website she claims, “Savage X Fenty celebrates fearlessness, confidence and inclusivity.”
This ad campaign encapsulates her brand perfectly. It contains a wide variety of ethnicities such as, African American (light and dark skin tones), caucasian (fair), caucasian (olive), and Asian (light and medium skin tones). All of the models show a variety of body shapes and sizes. Bodies that aren’t featured in the photo are disabled women, trans women, or women with skin/hair conditions such as vitiligo or alopecia.
The photo itself was taken in a studio with artificial lighting which was soft and illuminated the model’s skin. This ad was all about showing a group of diverse women feeling and looking confident in their sexy lingerie. The models are either holding hands or physically touching each other which symbolizes a united front between all of them. The set is a neutral beige while the framing is cut close forcing viewers to only focus on the bodies and garments.
Within the Fashion and Cultural Studies textbook, Kaiser explains “Gender is something that people do. Applying makeup, shaving ones face or legs, and donning high heels…” Wearing lingerie is an action in itself that is extremely gendered and labeled as a female practice. This ad is a visual representation of femininity. Considering Kaisers claim, if a man or any other gender put on lingerie, they could potentially identify themselves as female. “Gender” as a verb is a very complex idea as gender is so fluid as one can do multiple practices from different gender labeled things and represent a mixture of genders.
Joanne Entwistle explains in The Dressed Body that “…different fabrics have been endowed with erotic content… William Sketel documented some rare examples of female fetishism, many of which focused on fabrics such as silk and satin.” Lingerie is known to be a fancier type of undergarment typically worn on special occasions when with a loved one. The materials aren’t practical and sometimes even uncomfortable. The idea of men fetishizing lingerie has been present for a very long time. This ad campaign includes garments that fall under the fetishized realm however Rihanna made it very clear that the lingerie that she designed is not for men or anyone else to fantasize about, it’s specifically for the person who is wearing it only. Her whole brand is created for self confidence and self love when wearing the intimates. On her website she claims, “Savage X means making your own rules and expressing your mood, character and style for you- not for someone else.” Her brand really encapsulates the strong, independent, confident, sexy, human of all sizes, ethnicities, and genders.
Bibliography:
Entwistle, Joanne, and Elizabeth Wilson. Body Dressing. Oxford: Berg, 2001.
“Hunter & Gatti Photograph Savage x Fenty’s Inclusive Lingerie Campaign.” Fashion Gone Rogue, September 26, 2018. https://www.fashiongonerogue.com/savage-fenty-lingerie-campaign-hunter-gatti/.
Kaiser, Susan B. Fashion and Cultural Studies. London: Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2018.
“SAVAGE X FENTY: Lingerie by Rihanna.” SAVAGE X FENTY | Lingerie by Rihanna. Accessed September 24, 2019. https://www.savagex.com/aboutus.
