Rihanna’s pricey high fashion label Fenty is ‘put on hold’ by Louis Vuitton owner LVMH less than two years after its launch
- French luxury goods giant said it had agreed to suspend Fenty with the singer
- They said the high fashion line would be ‘put on hold’ pending better conditions
- The R&B singer and LVMH launched the Fenty fashion brand in May 2019
- LVMH did not elaborate on the reasons for hitting the pause button but the brand kept a low profile and never followed up its launch with major marketing events
- Rihanna is said to be ‘sad’ at the decision; her Savage X Fenty lingerie line and cosmetics lines Fenty Beauty and Fenty Skin are set to continue
Louis Vuitton owner LVMH and music star Rihanna have agreed to suspend her fashion line Fenty less than two years after its launch, the French luxury goods giant said on Wednesday.
LVMH said in a statement that the brand, based in Paris, would be ‘put on hold’ pending better conditions – a rare setback for the luxury group, which has weathered the coronavirus crisis better than most rivals.
The R&B singer, 32, and LVMH launched the Fenty fashion brand in May 2019, only the second time the French group had set a label up from scratch as it looked to tap soaring demand for luxury celebrity collaborations.
Rihanna is said to be ‘sad’ at the decision; her Savage X Fenty lingerie line and cosmetics lines Fenty Beauty and Fenty Skin are set to continue.
Her underwear brand generates about $150 million in revenue, The New York Times reported in December last year – but was not at that time profitable. Fenty Skin had sales of $30 million in under four months on its e-store, WWD reports. And Fenty Beauty generated $570 million in revenue in 2018, Forbes reports.
By contrast, when asked about the fashion venture during last October, LVMH’s finance chief Jean-Jacques Guiony called it ‘a work in progress’.
He added: ‘We are still in a launching phase, and we have to figure out exactly what is the right offer. It’s not something that is easy.’
Fenty fashion’s Instagram account has 1 million followers; Savage x Fenty by Rihanna has 3.9 million and Fenty Beauty by Rihanna 10.5 million. Fenty Skin has 800,000 followers.
Forbes named Rihanna the richest female musician in the world in 2019.
Rihanna poses in a pop-up store to present her first collection with LVMH for the new label, Fenty in Paris in 2019; Louis Vuitton owner LVMH and the singer have agreed to suspend her fashion line Fenty less than two years after its launch it was announced Wednesday
Fenty – named after the ‘Umbrella’ hitmaker’s full name, Robyn Rihanna Fenty – was meant to build on the singer’s joint cosmetics venture with LVMH, with a full range of clothing, shoes and accessories.
The line was pricey – nearly $1000 for a padded denim jacket and $810 for a corseted shirtdress.
LVMH and Rihanna added in a statement: ‘LVMH and Rihanna reaffirm their ambition to concentrate on the growth and the long-term development of Fenty ecosystem focusing on cosmetics, skincare and lingerie.’
Savage x Fenty – the singer’s underwear line – recently secured $115 million in fundraising led by private equity firm L Catterton connected to LVMH.
LVMH did not elaborate on the reasons for hitting the pause button on Fenty but after a big launch and debut collection, the brand kept a low profile and never followed up with major marketing events, even before the COVID-19 crisis.
Its Instagram page had not posted since January 1 and has not released any new clothes since November last year.
Trade publication WWD, which first reported news that the label was being suspended, said on Wednesday that a skeleton staff remained at the Paris headquarters to wind down remaining operations.
The line was pricey – nearly $1000 for a padded denim jacket and $810 for a corseted shirtdress. It was the first label the acquisitive group – also home to storied couture houses such as Christian Dior and Givenchy – had fully created since Christian Lacroix´s eponymous brand launched in 1987
Rihanna is said to be ‘sad’ at the decision; her Savage X Fenty lingerie line and cosmetics lines Fenty Beauty and Fenty Skin are set to continue
Fenty was the first label the acquisitive group – also home to storied couture houses such as Christian Dior and Givenchy – had fully created since Christian Lacroix´s eponymous brand launched in 1987.
It eventually sold that on in 2005 after it struggled to ever turn a profit.
The line was also the first time a black woman had headed a luxury fashion house for LVMH.
The R&B singer and LVMH launched the Fenty fashion brand in May 2019, only the second time the French group had set a label up from scratch as it looked to tap soaring demand for luxury celebrity collaborations