Pulsating beats. Undulating bodies. Scantily-clad swag under a spectrum of colorful lights. Is it a music video? A concert appearance? Rihanna’s recent text-filled (and highly controversial) trip to see Slave Play on Broadway?
No, it’s a trailer for the megastar’s top-secret Savage x Fenty Fall-Winter presentation, staged at Brooklyn’s Barclay Center during New York Fashion Week. Once again, the show features a full set filled with a diverse cast of models wearing Savage x Fenty’s latest lingerie—all of which will be available on the brand’s website when the show streams on Amazon Prime on Friday, Sept. 20.
While Rihanna herself doesn’t appear to be modeling lingerie this round (that outfit, though), the icon has apparently staged a show worthy of a stadium tour (and rivaling anything Victoria’s Secret has done), complete with elaborate choreography, lighting design, and performances by Halsey, Migos, DJ Khaled, Big Sean, Normani and A$AP Ferg, according to Fashionista (no word on whether Rih gives us a tease of her upcoming material). Laverne Cox, Joan Smalls and Slick Woods are among this year’s cadre of models—though unlike last year, Woods thankfully didn’t go into labor during the show.
Maybe we’re looking for love in a hopeless place, but is this year’s Savage x Fenty presentation simply intended to titillate, or will it tide us over until Rih’s next album arrives in December (we hope)? Knowing the bad gal, probably both...because she knows we’ll be tuned in, regardless.