Is Rihanna’s Fenty Brand a Flop? LVMH Says Her Clothing Label is “A Work In Progress”

Photo Courtesy of Fenty/ Instagram

Rihanna revolutionized the beauty industry with her diverse Fenty beauty brand and as a result, it has become a massively successful makeup line. According to Forbes, in 15 months, Riri’s brand accumulated $570 million in revenue. Additionally, her inclusive Savage X Fenty lingerie line has also proven to be a major success. In 2019, Business of Fashion reported that her underwear brand generated $150 million in revenue. However, unlike her highly successful beauty and underwear lines, her Fenty clothing label has yet to find its footing. LVMH admitted earlier in October that “it is still a work in progress.”

Bernard Arnault, Chief Executive officer of LVMH, has had a history of  showing admiration for the singer, noting that her Fenty Beauty cosmetics line  successfully amassed $100 million within weeks of their launch via a partnership between Rihanna and LVMH-controlled Kendo. However, he has been noticeably quiet on the Fenty clothing line, fuelling speculation that the brand is underperforming.

“On FENTY fashion, we are obviously still in a launching phase and we have to figure out exactly what is the right offer. It’s not something that is easy. We were starting entirely from scratch…Obviously, we have the great help from Rihanna on this, but I would say it’s still a work in progress when it comes to really defining what the offer will be,” said LVMH’s Chief Financial Officer Jean-Jacques Guiony.

By Temwa Namandwa