Rihanna's lingerie brand is streaming a glitzy fashion show on Amazon, and Victoria's Secret should be terrified
- Rihanna's Savage X Fenty lingerie show at New York Fashion Week is now available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
- The show, which featured models of all shapes, sizes, and ethnic backgrounds, set the internet alight for the second year running.
- While it had the raciness of a Victoria's Secret runway show, the focus was on body inclusivity and acceptance, something that Victoria's Secret has been accused of lacking.
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Rihanna is inching in on Victoria's Secret's turf.
The singer-turned-businesswoman has been setting the internet alight with her racy Savage X Fenty lingerie shows, which returned to New York Fashion Week for the second year running this month. Critics said that the show was everything that Victoria's Secret's annual runway show wasn't - inclusive and diverse, featuring models of all shapes, sizes, and ethnic backgrounds.
America's former lingerie sweetheart is facing ongoing criticism for losing relevance in the wake of #MeToo and has seen sales slide in recent years as new, buzzier brands crop up and take market share.
Now, Rihanna is taking it a step further by partnering with Amazon to stream her fashion show on its Prime Video service, in an attempt to beat Victoria's Secret at its own game. Customers will also be able to shop her new collections on Amazon.
Read more: Rihanna zeroed in on Victoria's Secret's crown jewel with a raunchy new lingerie show
The news comes just months after Victoria's Secret announced that it was "rethinking" its own annual fashion show and would no longer be airing it on network TV; the show previously drew in millions of viewers each year.
By streaming and selling on Amazon, Rihanna is able to tap into a large pool of potential shoppers - with an estimated 100 million Prime members in the US alone - and grow greater awareness around the brand. By selling on its website, she has similarly opened herself up to a much larger audience. Up until recently, Savage X Fenty had been sold exclusively on its own site or at pop-up locations, which are now closed.
Rihanna isn't the only high-profile celebrity to partner with Amazon in recent months. In July, Lady Gaga launched her new beauty collection, Haus Laboratories, exclusively on Amazon during Prime Day.
Nicole Quinn, a partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners and the venture capitalist who put together the deal, told Business Insider that Gaga had wanted to work with Amazon so she could make the brand inclusive for everyone. She wanted to be global from day one, she said.
In an interview with Business of Fashion, Rihanna said Amazon wasn't a partner she could consider turning down.
"Amazon came in and said, 'Hey, we want to be a part of it,'" she said, adding: "You're not going to deny a platform like Amazon Prime."