These ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Winners Are in Rihanna’s 2020 Savage X Fenty Show
Queens recognize queens. For every Savage X Fenty lingerie campaign or fashion show, Rihanna has always aimed to hire as many different types of people as possible, and make them feel like the royalty that they are. The second annual Savage X Fenty Show is coming to Amazon Prime Video soon, and the lineup of people set to appear in the production is already iconic in itself.
Rihanna hires diverse models and talent for Savage X Fenty
What made Savage X Fenty stand out from its competitors was that Rihanna made it a point to hire all kinds of models for every campaign and fashion show. Just in last year’s Savage X Fenty Show alone, there were disabled models, queer and trans models, and brand ambassadors of every skin tone.
In addition to bringing on celebrities like Normani and Megan Thee Stallion as Savage X Fenty brand ambassadors, Rihanna has also given the opportunity to people who traditionally aren’t hired for major campaigns like trans disabled model Aaron Philip.
Rihanna invited some ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ winners to be in this year’s Savage X Fenty Show
For this year’s Savage X Fenty Show, Rihanna is once again showing how she hires and uplifts queens and kings of all kinds. This is clear in the announcement trailer she posted on her Instagram with all the details of who will be featured as a model and as a performer.
The current reigning RuPaul’s Drag Race winner Jaida Essence Hall and the newest RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars winner Shea Couleé will be appearing in this year’s Savage X Fenty Show. They’re royalty in every sense of the word, and they continue on a legacy of Drag Race queens appearing on Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty stage.
Rihanna has invited ‘Drag Race’ winners to the Savage X Fenty Show before
It’s an exciting occasion to have two RuPaul’s Drag Race winners in such a large-scale event. But it’s not the first time a Drag Race queen has appeared in the Savage X Fenty Show.
Last year’s Savage X Fenty Show had a short segment featuring a choreographed routine by Aquaria, the winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race in 2018 and an accomplished model herself. Aquaria shared her thoughts and gratitude about being cast in a candid Instagram post.
“It’s quite surreal for someone in drag to even be considered to be featured in a lingerie show and Rihanna is really doing what she has to do to make fashion and the entire world open to inclusivity,” Aquaria gushed.
“I was nervous, but then immediately amazed at the positive comments from both drag fans and others,” she continued. “There is no reason not to include people of all walks of life in casting.”
Besides Aquaria, Drag Race fan favorite Vanessa Vanjie Mateo made an appearance in last year’s show.
Other ‘Drag Race’ queens have worked as fashion models
Shea Couleé and Jaida Essence Hall are the next Drag Race queens to join the Savage X Fenty family, but they’re hardly the first queens to model for a fashion brand. Aquaria, for instance, has appeared in campaigns wearing brands like Moschino and Marc Jacobs. She even attended the Met Gala in 2019 (becoming the first drag queen to do so) wearing a custom Maison Margiela look designed by John Galliano.
Violet Chachki, another RuPaul’s Drag Race winner, also made history alongside Aquaria at the 2019 Met Gala. In 2017, before Savage X Fenty had even launched, Chachki became the first drag queen to appear in a lingerie campaign. She’s also walked the runway for big brands such as Moschino.
Miss Fame, one of Violet Chachki’s sisters from season 7 of Drag Race, has also found success as a model and mogul. She’s modeled out of drag in the past, and launched her own beauty brand, Miss Fame Beauty, in 2018. Milk, Drag Race‘s hybrid drag queen and figure skater and the object of many fans’ affection, has also appeared in campaigns out of drag for brands such as Vivienne Westwood and Marc Jacobs.
