Along with all the celebrity sightings, the fashion show included dozens of more models of all shapes, sizes and races and is being considered perhaps the most inclusive fashion event to occur this year. The heavy emphasis on diversity was intentional, according to Rihanna, who told E! News that she wanted to produce a fashion show that represented all types of people, especially those who “aren’t usually projected as sexy, but they are.”
“They’re sexy, and they need to know that, and they need to be validated about that no matter what size they are,” she said in an interview with E! released on Friday. “I’m so focused on that and making women, not just anyone but everyone feeling invited, welcomed. Savage is a home, it’s a hub and it’s a safe space for everyone.”
Speaking in the same E! interview, RuPaul’s Drag Race alumni Shea Couleé and Gigi Goode, who walked in the Savage x Fenty: Vol. 2 show praised Rihanna for her dedication to all things diversity and inclusion as the business mogul’s beauty and fashion empire continues to grow.
“I hope this audience feels so sexy and empowered. It has been just so inspirational for me as a person being a part of it, so I can only imagine how inspirational and encouraging it will be to everybody out there watching all of these different representations of people here in the show tonight,” Couleé said.
Goode shared in Couleé’s sentiments, saying that it was “amazing that Rihanna is having so many different types of people—shapes, figures, colors” participating in such a widely-watched show.
“To be able to be a drag queen and wear these feminine pieces that you can just go to the store and pick up is so liberating and just very exciting,” Goode said.
