AMBER LE BON IS VERY STYLISH SATURDAY
AMBER LE BON – DAUGHTER OF DURAN DURAN’S SIMON LE BON AND SUPERMODEL YASMIN – ROCKS THE LATEST LOOKS FROM V BY VERY.CO.UK. EMMA JOHNSON REPORTS RI RI SAVAGES NEW YORK FASHION WEEK
IF THE team at Victoria’s Secret were not already fretting about where to start with this year’s fashion show in our woke, #timesup/#metoo era, then the scenes in Brooklyn this week should have had them ripping feathers from the brand’s iconic angel wings in panic.
Wednesday night saw New York Fashion Week close in spectacular fashion as singer Rihanna unveiled her Savage x Fenty AW 18 lingerie collection.
Other designers had spent the previous few days showcasing spring/ summer looks for next year.
But Rihanna is not other designers. And it quickly became clear this was no ordinary show.
When she launched her intimates line in May – less than a year after launching her cosmetics line Fenty Beauty – the chart-topper promised that it would be diverse, inclusive and champion body positivity. And no-one could accuse Wednesday’s show of falling short of that commitment.
There were white models, black models, mixed race models, tall models, short models, plus-size models, slim models and muscular models. Yes, there were models with brown and blonde hair but there were also ones with green and pink.
Two of the models were even heavily pregnant.
It wasn’t the first time we have seen a mum-to-be in a fashion show, Jourdan Dunn, Lily Aldridge and Irina Shayk all walked runways with babies on board. But it was definitely the first time we have seen a model displaying quite so much baby bump as Rihanna’s muse, 22-yearold Slick Woods, did this week.
The gap-toothed model of the moment, appeared in just a cutaway body suit, nipple covers and lacy stockings. A brave look, but boy did she own it.
Yes, there were a few familiar faces in the shape of the Hadid sisters and Joan Smalls but that did nothing to dilute the overall effect of the show which lived up to the brand’s name, in savaging longheld conceptions about what is sexy.
Mainstream thinking has for years steered us toward the tousle-haired, perkyboobed, long-limbed, uber-tanned look we see at the Victoria’s Secret shows.
Its ‘Angels’ may boast of feeling empowered on the runway – skin all oiled up and shimmering – but as we know from the behind the scenes exposés, looking like that requires careful eating and hours of work in the gym.
The store’s customers may predominantly be women (and teenage girls) but it is a look geared towards the ‘male gaze’.
Rihanna, as you might expect from someone who has been at the top of her game for more than 15 years, is over caring about the male gaze.
Speaking to Vogue when she launched Savage x Fenty, the 31-year-old declared: “Women should be wearing lingerie for their damn selves. I can only hope to encourage confidence and strength by showing lingerie in another light.”
Her New York show was a case of everyone’s favourite good girl gone bad going on with her bad gal self.
Now it’s time for the rest of the fashion world to catch up.
The floor is yours Victoria’s Secret...