After conquering the music and beauty industry, Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty lingerie brand recently announced that they are opening stores in 2022, and our wallets are definitely ready. As Savage X Fenty leads the battle of online purchases against Victoria’s Secret, this battle has now entered the streets which may have been Victoria’s Secret’s only advantage over Savage X Fenty.
Savage X Fenty has rapidly infiltrated Victoria’s Secret’s market share since its inception with $13.1 billion U.S. women’s underwear sector, with a 200 percent sales growth since last year. This is significantly due to our current age of diversity in the industry there’s been a significant shift, with Savage X Fenty poised to become a front runner in the global lingerie market that’s expected to hit $325 billion by 2025.
For Victoria’s Secret and its 871 stores across the U.S. and Canada, comparable store sales for the second quarter of 2021 decreased 3 percent compared to the second quarter of 2019. Not to mention that Q2 sales were down 10 percent from $1.79 billion in the second quarter of 2019, including a net closure of 240 company-operated stores since 2019, the company reported.
With inclusivity at the heart of her lingerie brand, Rihanna has included plus-size models, women of color, men and disabled models and dancers in their shows and features bra sizes up to 46H setting the business up for success from the very beginning. Launching in 2018, when Victoria’s Secret began experiencing backlash for not being inclusive enough, Savage X Fenty offered customers alternatives at a similar price range.
While further details of the launch of the physical stores have yet to be announced, Christiane Pendarvis, co-president and chief merchandising and design officer at Savage X Fenty, says they confirmed the shift from online sales to physical locations. “Retail is an important part of our growth strategy. You’ll absolutely see some stores in 2022,” said Pendarvis during an interview on Bloomberg’s Black in Focus Twitter series. “Because fit and comfort are so important, there are just customers who don’t feel comfortable purchasing online.”
Opening brick and mortar stores is a brilliant business move for the brand to expand their customers base as lingerie is something that is more intimate and personal and being able to try on and touch the bras and underwear in person will allow customers to feel more comfortable before buying.
As the owner of Savage X Fenty, Fenty Beauty, Fenty Skin and a pending Trademark application for Fenty Hair, Rihanna’s global business takeover is just getting started and we all get to witness it.
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