Backstage At Savage x Fenty NYFW Runway Show 2018

Source: Kevin Mazur / Getty

On Wednesday night in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Rihanna’s badassness descended in lingerie form for the Savage x Fenty show. #TeamBeautiful was backstage before the show and in the center of all the action. Backstage at a BadGalRiRi approved production is entirely different from any other NYFW backstage experience (maybe with the exception of Harlem’s Fashion Row). For a lack of a better word, it was Black AF, while being inclusive AF. So much stood out!

Here’s everything that you’d want to know about the backstage scene.

HAIR

Source: Bryan Bedder / Getty

From the minute we stepped backstage, honeyyyy…it was all about the hair. There were Dyson hair dryers working on everything from a high ponytail for Bella Hadid to laying the edges on some braids with a pink durag keeping everything slicked down for a black model. We even saw a huge braided ponytail that looked to be at least 22 inches long and 5 bundles thick. It was magic. I asked one of the assistant hairstylists what the “look” was for show and he said, “There is no look! Every girl has a hairstyle that accentuates her own beauty.” Head hairstylist for Rihanna and Savage x Fenty, Yusef, stated, “Today was all about self-expression. We just kinda enhanced what the girls already had and took it to another level.” We’re here for it!

THE “IT” MODELS

Source: Ilya S. Savenok / Getty

Rihanna did not come to play with the roster of models who walked in her show. She had every major “it” model from Duckie Thot to Gigi and Bella Hadid. Slick Woods who shot to success after representing for Fenty Beauty just one year ago also modeled at full term. Plus size model Anita Marshall was there for a Fenty slay. Former Victoria Secret’s model, Joan Smalls also walked the runway, giving us a strut for the gods.

THE DIVERSITY

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Diversity in fashion can be somewhat cliché, with designers thinking their being “diverse” with the inclusion of one or two plus size models. Not Savage x Fenty. The show cast models (and dancers!) of different shapes, skin tones, and more. I spoke with model, Nerita Eli, “I feel like it’s definitely catered to women of color. Most of the time the jobs that I’ve been on hasn’t always been equipped for us lovely colored women. So, to know that I’m being taken care of and I don’t have to worry and there’s no type of fear or doubt in my mind, makes me the happiest. It makes me feel that I can perform to my best abilities knowing that I look ah-mazing.”

The models were also all not a size 0-2. Backstage I saw something I don’t normally see at NYFW: rolls and cellulite. It was interesting, a lot of the girls in the show, while stunning, looked like women you would see on the train. There were not one, but two pregnant models. There were girls with large butts and small butts, DD breasts and B cups. It felt normal, I felt seen and there was something extremely comforting about that. Rihanna even had plus size dancers throughout the show. We spoke exclusively with Joré Marshall, who danced in the show,”It’s so surreal that I’m even here. I’m so honored and blessed to be here. This opportunity is way bigger than me.”

I will admit, I wish there was more diversity in terms of people who were working outside of the hairstylists, models, etc.

FOREVER FENTY

Source: Bryan Bedder / Getty

Not many fashion designers can brag that the makeup line they are using is theirs as well. Our Bajan beauty Rihanna can. A full spread of Fenty Beauty was on deck at every makeup station, including their latest releases, Diamond Bomb All-Over Diamond Veil ($38.00, FentyBeauty.com) and Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer in Diamond Milk ($18.00, FentyBeauty.com), which is like a pearl explosion on your lips.

Source: Danielle James / Hello Beautiful

Allegedly, they even had some unreleased products on deck…but we’re not allowed to talk about that!

Source: Bryan Bedder / Getty

We saw a lot of bold eyeshadow on models and dark skin models embracing highly pigmented colors like purples and blues – we are so here for it!

UNAPOLOGETIC BLACKNESS

Source: Bryan Bedder / Getty

Whether it was Duckie Thot milly rocking while having a cigarette break outside or edges being laid to the gods…backstage was catering to US. There were so many Black people of all shades backstage working, being worked on…it was beautiful.

Did you catch the Savage x Fenty show? What did you think of the collection? Tell us in the comment section!

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