The future is looking fierce for Rihanna.
The Barbadian performer and beauty business owner is making fashion history as the first woman ever to launch a clothing line — Fenty Maison — in LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the famed French luxury goods group. It’s also the first brand, or “house,” launched by LVMH since Christian La Croix’s 1987 debut.
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And it’s the latest in a long line of successes for Rihanna as a woman entrepreneur. She started makeup line Fenty in 2017, with a groundbreaking 40 skin tone options for customers to choose from. After going through beauty brand incubator Kendo (which is owned by LVMH) and raising $10 million in seed funding, Fenty blew up, thanks to its inclusive products and social media campaigns. The brand went on to reportedly rake in over $550 million in revenue in its first year.
Rihanna’s house will be joining the likes of Dior and Fendi at LVMH — and Rihanna herself is joining a growing list of powerhouse celebrities-turned-women-entrepreneurs that includes Oprah Winfrey, Kylie Jenner and Eva Longoria. Indeed, an increasing number of famous women have been using their considerable platforms to turn profits — be it in the beauty world, like Rihanna and Jenner, or in media, like Winfrey and Zoe Saldana.
Supermodel Gisele Bundchen is another such star business owner. Her fashion partnerships and skincare line are wildly successful — put together, her products generate roughly $1 billion per year in sales, according to news reports, and she appears to have no intention of slowing down.
In addition to making money and setting examples, many of these women are also paying their successes forward.
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Fashion business owner Tory Burch launched her own foundation in 2009, with the goal of helping other women entrepreneurs succeed. Spanx owner Sara Blakely is donating millions to charities around the world and investing in causes that support women’s education, entrepreneurship and art. Filmmaker/female founder Ava DuVernay leads an annual National Day of Racial Healing designed to inspire participants to take “collective action toward a more just and equitable world.”
Rihanna’s latest move is breaking down several barriers, since she will also be the first woman of color in a leadership position at any of LVMH’s houses. In a tweet about the news, she called it a “big day for the culture,” and thanked Bernard Arnault, chairman and CEO of LVMH, for “believing in this little girl from the left side of an island.”
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