SAVAGE X FENTY VOL.3

Rhianna is revolutionizing the runway. 

If you have watched the first  two, you know they don’t do this in halves. 

On September 24, the third edition of the pop star and business mogul’s Savage x Fenty show premiered on Amazon Prime Video. When the first one premiered in 2018, it was immediately clear that Rihanna had reinvented the lingerie fashion presentation. Rather than merely sending models down a catwalk, her show incorporated virtuosic choreography, live music, and adventurous set design, creating a full sensory experience for her Savage x Fenty brand. Above all else, her inclusive approach to casting was unmissable.

Rihanna’s new Savage x Fenty presentation pushes the boundary of what a fashion show even is. Available to view on Amazon Prime now, the event is more like a star-studded, impeccably choreographed music video. There are performances from Normani, Daddy Yankee, Nas, Jazmine Sullivan, Ricky Martin, Jade Novah, and BIA. The show also features models of all shapes and sizes. 

“Looks are sexy, edgy, flirty, playful. They make you feel confident and everyones going to feel represented in this show.’ 

Cindy Crawford opens the show in a lift filled with neon lighting and from here its non stop entertainment and fashion. 

The Stella cast features; Gigi Hadid, Emily Ratajkowski, Ricky Martin, Was, Jazmin Sullivan, Daddy Yankee, Sheholly Ayers, Erykah Bodu, Sabrina Carpenter, Nayah Hudson, Behati Prinsloo, Cara Delevine, Alexandra Drewchin, Raisa Flowers, Goodwin Asamoah, Gotmilk, Cindy Crawford,  Troye Sivan, Alva Claire, Vanessa Hudges, Izaak Theo Adu-watts and more) strut their stuff in the mogul’s lingerie line.  

Dancers from multiple countries including our very own Aussie Michael Dameski. 

Creatives involved in this project: Choreography & Direction; Parris Gobel, Diana Motos, Cullen Neal.

Volume three was filmed entirely on location at The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites in Downtown Los Angeles. The curving glass skyscraper—built in 1976 by Portman Architects—features a large atrium and outdoor elevators and provided ample space for numerous vignettes, stages, and what seems like miles of catwalk.

 

“It’s always been a building that I’ve loved and it’s very iconic to downtown Los Angeles,” says Willo Perron of Perron-Roettinger, who handled the set design for this and previous Savage x Fenty shows, and has also created stages for Lady Gaga and Kanye West, and decorated Jay-Z’s L.A. office. He says the building lent itself to a large performance “in a postmodern Busby Berkeley type of way,” citing the late director and choreographer known for his elaborate synchronized dance numbers in films like 1933’s 42nd Street.

 

Elevators were used as transitions.

“As far as look, it was mostly about cleaning up the building and giving it some identity.

“There are a lot of storefronts in the main stair scene, so we had to camouflage and hide all of those using drapes. We also re-carpeted all of the inside areas and some of the exterior areas.”

The whole thing was filmed without any audience over the course of a few days, with the team juggling the complicated logistics of shooting inside an open hotel. But when you watch, it seems to all be one big late-night fantasy, and at the end morning dawns on Rihanna as she stands atop the hotel roof, soaked in daylight and clapping.

 

 

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