Lingerie brand creates street-stopping advertising in Manhattan

Savage X Fenty a lingerie and loungewear brand co-founded by music and fashion icon Rihanna, attracted plenty of public and media attention with a brand activation during the recent New York Fashion Week showcase. 

Its outdoor campaign suspended giant lingerie above the streets of busy Manhattan, using sunlight to cast oversized bra and underwear shadows onto the road below. 

Instead of opting for the more obvious strategy of show its lingerie on one of the thousands of billboards that dot Manhattan, Savage X Fenty enlarged its product into street-scale structures whose shadows then become street-stopping advertising. 

“It is a neat piece of experiential marketing because the creative changes with the conditions. As the sun moves, so does the image, stretching Savage X Fenty’s silhouettes across traffic lanes, crossings and pavements,” commented Famous Campaigns, the marketing, media and advertising brandzine. 

“The stunt also makes smart use of New York Fashion Week behaviour. Editors, creators and fashion crowds already treat the streets between shows as an extension of the runway, giving the installation a ready-made audience and plenty of opportunities for social content. 

“For Savage X Fenty, it is another public expression of a brand that has long pushed lingerie beyond conventional fashion imagery.” 

Brand puts tights on a New York yellow cab 

Also pushing the envelope for brand activations during New York Fashion Week’s showcase from 10-15 September 2026 was Calzedonia, an Italian fashion company that produces tights, stockings, leggings and socks. 

It fitted one of the city’s famous yellow cabs with two pairs of legs emerging from its roof. Both pairs of legs were, of course, clad in Calzedonia products. 

“During Fashion Week, some of the most interesting fashion happens outside the shows. Calzedonia is making sure its tights are part of that street-level spectacle,” said Famous Campaigns at the time.