Rihanna Launches 'Fenty' with LVMH *Update February 2021* Now Closing the Luxury Brand

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PARIS Rihanna is getting ready for her next act in fashion, and with the world’s largest luxury group as her partner, WWD has learned.

According to multiple sources, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton and the music sensation have been in secret discussions to launch a luxury house under her name. That would make it the first fashion brand industry titan Bernard Arnault has launched from scratch since Christian Lacroix in 1987.

LVMH has already handpicked a clutch of employees from within, including some from Louis Vuitton and Celine, to work on the project in tandem with Rihanna and some of her key associates, sources said.

Details about the launch and its timing could not immediately be learned. LVMH officials declined comment Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the Internet lit up with speculation about the origins of the bold, gold shades Rihanna wore while stepping out in Manhattan — her Fenty brand name spelled out across the temples. Sources said the music star was simply test-driving a prototype, while dropping a colossal tease about her next major foray beyond music.

Rihanna has demonstrated a serious interest in, and influence on, fashion — along with formidable design chops and acute instincts — with her recent tenure as the creative director of Puma, energizing the German activewear brand with her Fenty by Puma project, and following it up with successful forays into beauty and lingerie — the former with LVMH-controlled Kendo; the latter with California-based TechStyle Fashion Group.

Her public appearances generally stir the paparazzi, and her fans, into a frenzy, with outfits ranging from sultry off-the-shoulder styles to streetwear to, at the Met Ball, showstopping numbers that are the highlight of the occasion. In May, for example, she wore a Maison Margiela crystal-encrusted gown and bolero jacket, complete with a hat resembling a bishop’s mitre.

It is understood her collection with LVMH will span ready-to-wear, leather goods and accessories, and could be released in tandem with her ninth album, expected out sometime later this year, one source said.

For LVMH, the Rihanna line signals a further move outside its comfort zone of heritage brands as it continues to diversify its holdings, having recently invested $2.6 billion in luxury travel operator Belmond Ltd., owner of the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express train and hotels including the Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janeiro.

Kendo, which functions as an incubator making products that end up being retailed by LVMH’s Sephora perfumery chain and other outposts, signed on Rihanna in 2016. Her Fenty Beauty products racked up sales north of $100 million in a matter of weeks, and was hailed as a transformative brand.

It also cemented Rihanna as one of the hottest-selling celebrities in the world of licensing.

Just a year after its launch, Fenty Beauty by Rihanna is a digital innovator and champion for diversity, using its platforms — 6.3 million Instagram followers, 490,000 YouTube subscribers and 372,000 Twitter followers — to showcase makeup on women of all complexions and sizes. The brand engages with its followers regularly, reposting user-generated content and collaborating with avid fans on videos and posts.

Rihanna’s proximity to LVMH stretches back to at least 2015. After attending shows for Christian Dior, one of Arnault’s most treasured fashion properties, she appeared in “Secret Garden IV,” a campaign and short film shot by Steven Klein inside Versailles. It featured her in Dior sunglasses, carrying the brand’s bags and wearing looks from the Esprit Dior collection.

A year later, she created a range of futuristic sunglasses in collaboration with Dior as part of her brand ambassadorship.

Sources inside LVMH describe her as a hands-on type who is extensively involved in product development. It is understood LVMH started assembling her fashion team about six months ago in Paris, with the project being overseen by Sidney Toledano, chairman and chief executive officer of LVMH Fashion Group, a stable of fashion houses that includes Givenchy, Celine, Kenzo and Marc Jacobs.

Rihanna’s talent and beauty have made her a favorite of fashion designers worldwide. The Barbados native has previously modeled for Gucci, Emporio Armani and Balmain.

She made her debut in design in 2013 with British high-street brand River Island, creating a collection of clothing and accessories.

“Launching at London Fashion Week is a dream come true for me,” she said at the time. “I have wanted to design my own collection for a long time and to present my collection for River Island alongside all of the other great design talent at LFW is a real privilege. I can’t wait to see the reaction from my fans and the fashion press.”

While at Puma, Rihanna staged high-energy shows — one featuring motorcycle acrobats — in Paris and New York. Indicative of her wide appeal, her collection landed at Bergdorf Goodman in New York and spawned a consumer frenzy — and knockoffs galore — for several hit shoe styles, including creepers and furry shower slides.

TechStyle co-ceo Adam Goldenberg told WWD in a recent interview that he chose Rihanna because he needed “the right partner to bring instant credibility and exposure” to a new proposition in the lingerie category.

He confirmed her deep involvement in products that bear her Fenty brand name. “Every single item we have designed she has been involved in the process and seen it on a model, made her own adjustments, decided if we are going to bring it in stock, down to every element of the campaign,” he said.

wwd.com
 
Woah. :shock: I mean, a singer-turned-designer is nothing new - we have the critical success of Victoria Beckham's brand and the commercial success of Kanye's Yeezy as proof - and if it's good, I'm not going to hate on it but this sounds like a big investment (especially when you put it into perspective in terms of who makes up the LVMH portfolio) and a huge leap for Rihanna. A full-on luxury brand is no joke. I hope she's talented enough for it and I also hope she knows what she's getting herself into.
 
Woah. :shock: I mean, a singer-turned-designer is nothing new - we have the critical success of Victoria Beckham's brand and the commercial success of Kanye's Yeezy as proof - and if it's good, I'm not going to hate on it but this sounds like a big investment (especially when you put it into perspective in terms of who makes up the LVMH portfolio) and a huge leap for Rihanna. A full-on luxury brand is no joke. I hope she's talented enough for it and I also hope she knows what she's getting herself into.

She also has a new album out this year. How can she manage to promote that, her beauty line and a new fashion line. With all the commitments that entails. Something is bound to suffer.
 
Oh God! What a joke. She just sued her dad the other day for fraudulent use of the Fenty name, which is his surname. Probably in anticipation of this news.
I don't understand LVMH. You run your mouth over a legitimate designer and established brand like Marc Jacobs and how bad he's doing, but prop up a celebrity to start a fashion brand? Why not clean up that house first before throwing money elsewhere?

We'll be up to our elbows with her on magazine covers soon.
 
sad news......its all about the coins..but thats the time we are living in. i like her. not for her voice or music though, shes cool sexy and she loves fashion. but the thing with her father really turned me off. my mind will stay open to this, but a gut feeling says that the collection I will see will make me mehh and rolling eyes. I hope it will not be the same outcome as her fenty runway collections. but who knows maybe something groundbreaking, amazing will come out of her.......
 
sad news......its all about the coins..but thats the time we are living in. i like her. not for her voice or music though, shes cool sexy and she loves fashion. but the thing with her father really turned me off. my mind will stay open to this, but a gut feeling says that the collection I will see will make me mehh and rolling eyes. I hope it will not be the same outcome as her fenty runway collections. but who knows maybe something groundbreaking, amazing will come out of her.......

Thank you!

I'm assuming they'll consult her and make sure the collection is solid before it sees the light of day. Does Fenty have an aesthetic? I'm not up to snuff with all their collections. Some were a cluttered nightmare, the type of stuff that will look good on her and her alone. Whether the brand or her following is sustainable, I don't know. I mean, it could easily be another L.A.M.B. or JLO by Jennifer Lopez, only this time one of fashion's biggest conglomerate will have their name attached to it. At least Victoria Beckham specialises in classic wares. A pleated tennis dress which no doubt could still be worn 5-10 years from now. And this is coming from someone who cannot abide brand Beckham.
 
Let´s call things by its name: this will be just a luxury Rihanna merchandise brand. She is gonna put her image for the brand; and that´s it!

In the shadows, a team of proper fashion designers will be exploited to create this nightmare. And she will play her "look I´m a talented pop b.i.t.c.h. who can do anything, like playing fashion designer" role.

I am fed up of an industry selling the dellusion that the work of a fashion designer is so easy, that can be done by anyone (no formation required)...but at the same time they are only hiring people from expensive design schools.
 
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sad news......its all about the coins..but thats the time we are living in. i like her. not for her voice or music though, shes cool sexy and she loves fashion. but the thing with her father really turned me off. my mind will stay open to this, but a gut feeling says that the collection I will see will make me mehh and rolling eyes. I hope it will not be the same outcome as her fenty runway collections. but who knows maybe something groundbreaking, amazing will come out of her.......


Why did the thing about her dad really turned you off? Her dad has been known to be very shady - he's sold stories to the Sun about her daughter regularly, and according to the articles, "her father and a business partner falsely advertised themselves as her reps to solicit millions of dollars, including trying to book her for 15 shows in Latin America in December 2017 for $15 mil ... all without her authorization."
 
Im not completely against the ideia, but as Fenty Beauty consumer I would say that she should put more focus on it. The concept of her brand is brilliant, however the some products are not in good level, the last launch (concealer and setting powder) was a big 'meh'.
 
Why did the thing about her dad really turned you off? Her dad has been known to be very shady - he's sold stories to the Sun about her daughter regularly, and according to the articles, "her father and a business partner falsely advertised themselves as her reps to solicit millions of dollars, including trying to book her for 15 shows in Latin America in December 2017 for $15 mil ... all without her authorization."

Seriously. I know it's slightly off topic, but I really don't like the media narrative that Rihanna is the morally corrupt person here, suing her "poor" father "because of the Fenty last name that she actually got from him". The lawsuit is about the father falsely associating his business with her name in order to scam people even though she seemingly warned him to cut it out; it is the only sensible thing for her to do here.
 
Knowing what it takes to launch a brand, to design a collection, i’ve Always hated the idea of celebrities doing fashion lines (even when they are Victoria Beckham) as much as I’ve always hated the idea of friends of celebrities doing fashion (Mr Abloh).
Don’t get me wrong, doing t-shirts and easy branded pieces is good for me but the idea that you do because you can on this case kills me.
I hate that it’s just a way to expand a brand and to make money. Those people kills the magic of being a designer...
She should focus on accessories because doing womenswear is super expensive. That’s already enough for me...

And what is going to be her aesthetic? She wears a lot of Tom Ford, Versace and stuff....

And to people asking how she is going to balance all of that... Look at Virgil Abloh. The guy is not even hiding the fact that he doesn’t spend time in his studio when designer is supposed to be his first job so....
 
If there's one celebrity in the world that could pull off an enterprise like this, it's Rihanna. I'm hyped for this, this brand has a lot of potential to be a major player in the industry, especially with the LVMH backing.
 
The logo and the font style make it look like some sort of new app / tech start up, and not at all a new clothing luxury brand. The logo even looks like a microchip of sorts.
 

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