The Rise and Fall of FENTY

Rihanna's fashion house FEИTY lasted only a few years before it really crashed and burned, but why? In my opinion its down to LVMH's poor planning, lack of consistent vision and lack of consistency with the other Fenty lines that were already successful at the time; Fenty Beauty and Savage x Fenty. FEИTY as a fashion house really is a great study in lack of authenticity in a brand, becuase unlike the beauty line of the same name, it just couldn't give an authentic vision of itself which led to honestly a very confused and disappointing fashion label that was a waste of 60 million euros.

[understitchYT]

If you enjoy celebrity fashion house fails, who would you like to see in the future? (I was thinking Pastelle, but idk if theres enough content there)

[beebs]

i always wish she had made her clothing more inclusive price wise. also wish she had made a bag that was recognisable as THE fenty bag.

[lasenoradelacruz]

As a customer, the deciding factor to not purchase from the Fenty brand is greediness. I wanted to buy cute overprized Rihanna underwear. I did NOT, however, want to pay the ridiculous OBLIGATED $50 a month subscription to be able to purchase from the brand (which was supposed to provide “benefits” such as early access to launches).
In this economy, the Fenty business model does not fly with me.

[babyblues]

Unfortunately the failure of this project was pretty predictable. The first problem to me is that Rihanna is neither a stylist nor a designer. Her brand had no identity not even a specific style to it, or at least a particular trait that would make it unique and stand out from the other brands on the market. In addition her fanbase could not afford a 2000 $ dress or a 500 $ pair of sunglasses. Their marketing strategy for Fenty beauty was successful and smart. It was inclusive, different and offered high quality products at an affordable or at least accessible price, because unlike Fenty, a lot of people can buy a lip gloss or a lipstick even if it's a 30$ or 25 $. Clothing however is something else. This strategy was just not applicable to a high end couture house.

[criesinkoreaboo]

I agree with analysis about the brand being doomed from the start. Pop stars are marketed as these inclusive brands. And they are marketed to a poor and working class fan base. Designer brands are about exclusivity and selling expensive shit to rich people that the poors can't afford. I don't think you can court both groups of people in fashion.

[ruthjuliana]

They thought her fan base would just go on to purchase her luxury but $60 panties and lingerie is a vast difference to $800 denim dresses. The miscalculated greatly.

[zaasfromparis]

I was the team manager for the pop up in Paris and it was kind of sad . They refuse people at the entrance, then the day after they allowed people to buy only 2 items, they invited many random influencers, the day after rumors about the designs were dupe of young designers and a week later the store was empty of customers. Our best seller was the sunglasses ….

[bernaayguel]

I am a huge Rihanna fan and would have definitely purchased something, anything from this line if it wasn't SO expensive. Even savage X bugs me a lot. The first time I purchased something they automatically signed me up for a subscription which was extremely difficult to cancel. The fact that a bra is £60 but constant VIP sales reduce prices down to £15 tells me a lot about the actual value of the item and how much profit they make... Still a fan but the concept is mind-boggling

[RichielaurensIII]

I think her makeup line was extremely popular because every single makeup brand, who’s job is literally makeup, didn’t have as many shades as her line did. Which is kinda, weird ngl. How is a celebrity who’s thing is singing, going to beat you in a makeup line?

[covfefemaga]

I totally forgot there was a Fenty clothing line. I remember seeing a few hauls youtube and the clothing looked oversized, masculine, boxy, scratchy, etc. There was nothing luxury about it. It looked like upcycled thrifted items. Price didn't matter because it was ugly.

[rodneywaynejackson]

These artist have to remember everything is driven by their celebrity and the fact that she toned down her music directly contributed to this decline as well!

[itisred]

It's strange that Rhianna made a point about how the clothes are inclusive for curvy people when a lot of the clothes are so boxy and stiff and unflattering on all body types.

[kyleanuar]

Fenty should have collaborated with prominent designer like JW Anderson, he'd be perfect for her looks

[sammysoppy]

i had no idea this line ever existed and i knew about her lingerie and makeup lines …lol i guess that says it all

[elena-fashionista]

Little insider news from a friend who is in the legal team at lvhm. When the brand started there was a lot of trouble because of how similar the names fenti and fendi where. However, the situation was still solved because "the boss at lvhm adores her and everything she does", also she was already planning to extend to interior design and other fields too. So it's incredible to think that even with all that support from lvhm the brand still didn't succeed!!

[Rosewtr_]

You’re totally right! I agree! If Fenty were to return I think they could really do well if they focus on bags, outerwear (like dope oversized jackets), heels and sunglasses—these are things she’s known for and it would help the customer to recognize the brand and connect with her.

Thank you for sharing your insights!! Really great and well presented commentary! Looking forward to more! 😊

[malegi]

The popularity of Fenty was because of Rihanna’s fame and the celebrities she brought to the fashion show but the clothes was always cheap looking and trashy honestly.

[sew_gal]

The clothes dont look classy and elegant, they look kardashian-ish and it ignores the diversity of clientele, for myself i dont mind spending money on expensive clothes but they need to have an air of class and elegance, perhaps even "old money" luxury. There needs to be more diversity in ideas not just skin tone and body types, everything looks too much these days.

[anthonyd]

The brand never felt fully developed. Prices were high but the designs didn’t justify it. Had she hired a seasoned designer to collaborate with like Rick Owens, Rei kawakubo or mowalola she could’ve killed it 🤷🏽‍♂️

[xoxolorae]

There’s a common theme here with celebrity Beauty product lines, in that they’re all declining. We’re in a recession and during the pandemic, beauty sales were drastically declining but skincare products were actually on the rise. That was to be expected since people weren’t really going out. But this also trickled into 2023, as there are less sales in general (check annual reports from Sephora or Ulta for example from 2020-2022) for beauty products.

Lots of people are realizing that these products are marketed to a low to med income market, but have high price tags, so it was only a matter of time that these celeb lines would decline in sales. It also isn’t exclusive to Fenty. Rare Beauty (Selena), Kylie, Ariana, etc. All sales are declining steadily.

What is interesting to me is that in contrast, brands like SKIMS by Kim K are more likely to steadily grow in success, as it’s neutral and more people are seeking “comfort” products. Kim K isn’t my fav celeb to fund, but Skims is legit good. Bras are comparable in price to VC but way more comfortable and better fit. Her sizing is inclusive as well. These celebs need to stop cheaply going for the Beauty route and start going more into home goods or inclusive clothing lines.