NOAH HOGAN- STAFF WRITER
Robyn Rihanna Fenty opened the second volume of her Savage X Fenty special with a beautiful quote:
“Storytelling is the last part of any journey. There’s experience and there’s that emotion that’s connected to the experience. Whether it’s a scent, whether it’s the sound, that emotional connection to that particular moment is the thing that makes it worthy of telling in a story.”
Rihanna did just that with her follow-up on the Amazon Prime streaming service.
Packed with celebrity appearances, distinct set designs and stellar choreography, Volume. 2 was more than a worthy successor to the first show at New York Fashion Week.
What is most intriguing is that Rihanna and her team understand the need to create a story of Savage X Fenty without forcing the need to focus on the actual garments. Instead, she uses different mediums such as music and choreography to set a mood using the clothes to be nothing more than what they are, clothes.
From the very beginning, we are introduced to some of Fenty’s creativity in the most obvious role that most associate her with, her music. More specifically, her music taste.
She uses songs from artists that her base can easily identify like Kendrick Lamar and Roddy Rich. However as a woman of Caribbean descent,
Rihanna takes the opportunity to make her audience aware of artists in the Latin and Caribbean markets with performers like Rosalína and Bad Bunny. Although Riri does not stick to the conventional rap or pop genre, she finds a way to weave in elements of R&B and house music to give each scene its own identity.
“The scenes were perfect for the clothing pieces that she showed and the music made it better. I liked the dances in Volume 2 more than the first,” said Monique Smith, a Hampton University biochemistry pre-dental major, leadership studies minor from Atlanta, Georgia.
The Savage X Fenty show allowed Rihanna to take on other personas and blend them to create the best version of herself.
We see her wear many hats such as the creative, the businesswoman and the leader.
If you listen to the way she describes in great detail something so trivial like fabrics, you would think she was a graduate of a fashion design school. Savage X Fenty is proof that Rihanna has taken the time to be fully invested in her craft.
Design Director Emily Whitehead describes Rihanna as having the eye
to figure out not just what pieces are going to work best but how to best utilize them. “That kind of steers us and makes it better but also makes it hers,” Whitehead said.
Contrary to popular belief, it is not just Rihanna’s brand name recognition that made the show feel special. She allowed for others to shine and show case their talents on a major scale, not taking into account celebrity status or prominence.
Rihanna and company did a great job incorporating models and dancers of all shapes, sizes and walks of life.
From a multitude of frames, there were many different women and men who were able to express themselves through fashion. Citing that inclusivity is something that is “second nature” and that “there is no need to think about it.”
“I love that she’s doing that,” Smith said. “It made me want to buy and support her even more. Many people are insecure about their body, and lingerie is supposed to be ‘sexy.’ So Rihanna’s show highlighted a diverse group of models and told people that all body types are sexy and be confident and love yourself.”
Overall, Rihanna chose to tackle themes of sexuality, inclusivity, mood and inspiration within a 56-minute time frame.
Opting for the lingerie garments to serve as background images to compliment the bigger themes at play, she also completed a goal of creating something that surpasses the boundaries of fashion and enters the space of great art.
The only question left unanswered now is, if Rihanna is so invested physically and emotionally to her clothing line, will she have the necessary time or energy to uphold the other big obligation in her life, music?
The Hampton Script 