Louis Vuitton owner LVMH will temporarily close Rihanna's luxury fashion venture Fenty
- LVMH and Rihanna suspended collaboration on the Fenty luxury fashion venture two years after its launch, WWD reported.
- LVMH and Rihanna will concentrate on long-term Fenty brand development, Reuters and WWD reported.
LVMH, the owner of luxury brands Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior, has suspended collaboration with R&B singer Rihanna on her Fenty ready-to-wear fashion line, Women's Wear Daily reported on Wednesday.
LVMH did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Rihanna's fashion venture, which was launched in 2019 in Europe, will be "put on hold" pending better conditions, the French luxury good conglomerate said in a statement, according to WWD and Reuters. Women's Wear Daily was the first to report the news.
LVMH and Rihanna will concentrate on the long-term development of the Fenty business with a focus on skincare, cosmetics, and lingerie, the publications said.
The LVMH-backed investment fund L Catterton has taken a stake in Rihanna's lingerie line, Savage X Fenty, WWD reported.
In December, Savage X Fenty was reportedly seeking to raise $100 million in funding to expand in Europe and launch a new line of athletic wear. The company appointed Goldman Sachs to raise the new round of funding which could give Savage X Fenty a valuation of $1 billion, according to The New York Times' DealBook newsletter.
Fenty was the first fashion venture that LVMH created from the ground up since Christian Lacroix's brand launched in 1987. It was established to develop the singer's joint cosmetic venture with the French group with clothing, accessories, and shoes.
Rihanna launched cosmetics brand Fenty Beauty in 2017 and reportedly competed with other makeup brands such as Kylie Cosmetics. Fenty Beauty sales were five times Kylie Cosmetics in its first month of operation in September and 34% higher the following month.
LVMH was financially impacted by the pandemic and store closures. In October it reported a revenue of $37 billion, down 21% compared to the same period a year before. The luxury conglomerate had a revenue reaching about $59 billion in 2019.
In a press statement, the company said it was showing "significant improvement" in its third quarter. Its fashion and leather goods division, for which organic revenue declined by 11% over the first nine months of the year, saw a double-digit rebound of 12% growth in the third quarter.