Big news: Paris-based luxury conglomerate LVMH and founder Robyn Rihanna Fenty are shutting down Fenty, a fashion label launched less than two years ago.
The signs Fenty was faltering where reflected on the label’s Instagram account which was last updated on January 1, 2021. As well the label’s celebrated schedule of monthly drops came to a halt on November 20, 2020, with a collection of heels made in collaboration with Amina Muaddi.
In a statement to WWD, the company confirmed: “Rihanna and LVMH have jointly made the decision to put on hold the [ready-to-wear] activity, based in Europe, pending better conditions.”
According to WWD, Rihanna is “sad” about closing the label, but ultimately concurred it was better to focus on growing home runs Fenty Beauty and the just-launched Fenty Skin, which is estimated to have rung up $30 million in sales since its launch three months ago.
The decision to shutter the label was accelerated by the spread of COIVD-19, which limited Rihanna’s ability to travel from her home in Los Angeles to the label’s base of operations in Paris.
At the same time, LVMH is also involved with Rihanna’s lingerie label, Savage X Fenty. Reflecting its backing, LVMMH is invested in private private equity firm L Catterton, which took the lead on a Series B round of funding totaling $115 million in support of expanding Savage X Fenty, a label launched in 2018 with California-based TechStyle Fashion Group.
“Following the completion of a fundraising round where L Catterton has taken a stake into Savage X Fenty, 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,” LVMH and Rihanna noted in their statement.
