One thing about Rihanna, she is gonna step outside the box on some sh*t.
This time she cast an all-black motorcycle crew for her latest Savage X Fenty campaign and it’s epic.
The Campaign drops on August 1st and the girl crew is a bunch of badass, curvy, confident women who happen to ride motorcycles from New Orleans.
According to Vogue, the all-Black women’s biking crew was founded in 2005 by Nakosha “Coco” Smith and Shanika “Tru” Beatty.
They have 10 active members and when they meet on Sundays, the women dress up in strappy heels fit for a night out, rhinestone-encrusted jackets, customized T-shirts boasting phrases like “anything but basic”, and helmets sprouting with fuchsia mohawks.
The color palettes are flashy: blazing hot pinks, radiating highlighter yellows, and searing nuclear greens.
There is no shortage of high-wattage glamour. It was enough to catch Rihanna’s eye, and have her cast them to model in the newest campaign for Savage X Fenty.
“The Caramel Curves show the world what being a badass boss is all about, while bringing sexiness along for the ride,” Rihanna wrote via email.
The women were photographed by Shaniqwa Jarvis around New Orleans in body-skimming lingerie—curve-hugging bodysuits, fishnet tights, embroidered bras, and opera gloves—alongside their prized accessory, their motorcycles.
“It is just looking fab all the time,” explains Smith over Zoom about the style of her and her fellow riders. “We are always blinging and glistening. Anything sequins, rhinestones— we’re going to wear it.”
View this post on Instagram
“I didn’t want to go shop for basic clothes because I didn’t dress like that.
I always wore sparkly, blingy stuff all the time,” says Smith. “So that pretty much started the trend for the Caramel Curves that ‘This is our look. When you come in, be prepared to look this way.
You’re gonna have to wear heels, sexy clothes, be cute. Get it together. We don’t want to look regular.’ I’m never going to look regular.”
On How they met Rihanna
“Co [Smith] is a real Ri-fan anyway, so she already has Savage underclothes and shoes,” says Beatty.
“I’m a fan now, but she was a fan way before.” In fact, Rihanna, a longtime reality television show fan, recognized Smith from the time she appeared on Bridezillas.
“I did a little short video to send to Rihanna the day that we filmed [the campaign]. The lady was like, ‘Ri knows you,’” says Smith. “‘Were you on a reality show or something?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, I was on Bridezillas!’”
About Shooting the Campaign
While wearing bold clothing is nothing new for the women of Caramel Curves, they were not short on reactions from passersby while they were shooting the campaign. “They were like, ‘What the heck is going on?
A bunch of ladies just passed on bikes in thongs!’” says Smith, while Tierra “Choosy” Thomas adds, “Definitely a normal Curve day!” Though, while there was more skin than usual, the women were more than comfortable in the saucy Savage X Fenty ensembles.
“You could tell that they put a lot of thought into making it for plus-sized women because that’s what’s hard to find: lingerie that fits good on a plus-sized woman,” says Smith. “They definitely knew where to put material at, and where none was needed.”
“When this comes out, I feel like a lot of people are going to be like, ‘I am not surprised that Rihanna picked the Caramel Curves because those girls stay fly.’”
And that they are!
Twitter’s reaction was pretty much like ours, they loved everything about it!
I love *everything* about this!!!!!!!!!!
Rihanna Cast an All-Black Motorcycle Crew For Her Latest Savage X Fenty Campaign https://t.co/QuonUdYkhy via @voguemagazine
— Karen Attiah (@KarenAttiah) July 31, 2021
and:
As a bigger woman, seeing the Caramel Curves illustrious president in that orange fishnet lingerie ensemble filled me with happiness ???
All the ladies are beautiful. Miss Andrea is closer to my size and is so breathtaking, it gives me confidence ?https://t.co/MjetiLWgRS— ?Jennifer Pearson? (@Jenn__Pearson) July 30, 2021
The collection dropped on August 1st. Watch the video now:
