Plans by luxury fashion house LVMH to quietly collaborate with popular celebrity Rihanna on a new fashion business have been exposed, according to Fashion United. Citing a Fashion Network report on the partnership, the website reveals that the new fashion company Project Loud – originally registered as a shell firm in 2017 – took in a €60 million (US$67.8 million) capital investment from LVMH last year. The firm’s president was shown to be senior LVMH executive Jean-Baptiste Voisin.
Rihanna’s Fenty line – which, according to LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault achieved €500 million in sales last year – was also launched with the support of LVMH. Its Fenty x Puma collaboration in 2017 resulted in a boost in Puma sales by 23 per cent.
The success of Fenty indicates high potential sales volumes for Project Loud and bodes well for this latest LVMH investment.
News of the collaboration first broke in January when online portal WWD and the New York Times cited multiple unnamed sources confirming plans.
Writer Vanessa Friedman flagged the question “Is Rihanna the Coco Chanel of the 21st century?” in a feature published last month.
“Robyn Rihanna Fenty, one of the defining musical artists of the millennium and a multi-hyphenate talent, has no formal fashion training. What she does have is a clear vision for her own image, 14 No. 1 singles on the Billboard 100 chart and more than 50 Top 40 hits, 67 million Instagram followers, and an ability to disrupt the status quo,” Friedman wrote.
“While the details of the agreement remain unclear, it is a turning point in both fashion and fame.
“The combination of Fenty and LVMH will be the clearest expression yet of how celebrity, social media and influencers have redefined the power balance between culture and consumption, changing the way brands of all kinds relate to their audience,” wrote Friedman.