Rihanna will launch and head a new fashion house, Fenty, after completing a historic deal with the luxury giant LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, The New York Times reports.
Fenty marks the first new fashion house created under the LVMH umbrella since Christian Lacroix launched in 1987. Its arrival also means Rihanna will be the first woman to create an original brand at LVMH and the first woman of color to run a fashion house at LVMH.
“Designing a line like this with LVMH is an incredibly special moment for us,” Rihanna said in a statement. “[LVMH Chairman] Mr. [Bernard] Arnault has given me a unique opportunity to develop a fashion house in the luxury sector, with no artistic limits. I couldn’t imagine a better partner both creatively and business-wise, and I’m ready for the world to see what we have built together.”
Fenty will be based in Paris and is set to launch its first line of ready-to-wear clothes, shoes and accessories this spring, though an exact date has yet to be announced. In 2017, Rihanna partnered with LVMH to launch her cosmetics line, Fenty Beauty.
Rihanna’s foray into fashion began when she founded Fenty in 2016 as part of an agreement with Puma. The line debuted at New York Fashion Week before moving to Paris and earning positive reviews. Originally, Fenty focused on athleisure and chic streetwear (Riahnna described the clothes as what “Marie Antoinette would wear if she was going to the gym”), while in 2018 Rihanna launched a new lingerie line with Savage x Fenty.