Rihanna and LVMH have agreed to close the Fenty fashion house, a joint announcement said on Wednesday.
In a statement, an LVMH representative is quoted as saying that luxury conglomerate and Fenty “have jointly made the decision to put on hold the RTW activity, based in Europe, pending better conditions.” LVMH fashion house, which carries brands like Louis Vuitton and Hennessy, first announced a partnership with Rihanna in 2019 to open the new luxury brand, Fenty. Rihanna had called the collaboration “an incredibly special moment.”
She added that “Mr. Arnault has givenen me a unique opportunity to develop a fashion house in the luxury sector, with no artistic limits. I couldn’t imagine a better parter both creatively and business-wise, and I’m ready for the world to see what we have built together,” she said in May 2019 after the announcement.
The Fenty Maison is the first LVMH has launched since 1987 with Christian LaCroix. LVMH, a major investor in Rihanna’s investment brain-child Fenty Beauty, Fenty Skin, and Savage X Fenty, will continue to focus on those brands as trends have now changed towards beauty and skincare since the pandemic started. With most countries under lockdown, it was foreseeable that clothing sales will go down for the most part- at least clothing for outings. However, lingerie and comfortable clothing at home sales seem to be on the rise.
Meanwhile, L Catterton – in which LVMH has a stake- is the leading investor in the latter as part of a push for retail expansion.
A Fast Company report noted that Savage x Fenty received $115 million in Series B funding from L Catterton, which effectively brings the brand’s valuation to more than $1 billion. The report said the company’s plan was to build a “lingerie empire,” the likes to have never been seen before.
