Kristin-Lee Moolman/T Magazine
Rihannahas been putting in work, work, work, work, work—and it’s about to show yet again.
The Grammy-winning songstress and Fenty Beauty founder is expanding her budding empire yet again, this time as the first woman to create an original brand with luxury goods conglomerate LVMH and the first woman of color atop an LVMH maison, which shocked her.
“I didn’t even know that until months into our relationship, when Jahleel [Weaver] brought it to my attention. And I’m like, ‘Are you sure about that? Did you do your research? ‘Cause I don’t wanna state a claim that’s [expletive].” Because I still couldn’t believe it. It made me feel proud,” she said in a newly published interview with T, The New York Times Style Magazine.
The luxury fashion brand, named Fenty to differentiate from Rihanna, the singer, and announced earlier this month, is to include ready-to-wear, shoes and accessories and is slated to debut this month. Fortunately for excited fans, the performer modeled a few of her upcoming styles as she dished to the magazine on what to expect from the inventive brand, including its expansive range of sizes and release schedule.
Likened to the release of singles from an album, the brand will drop new clothing items monthly to its website. “People are always looking for the thing that hasn’t made it online yet. And as a consumer, I hate seeing something on the runway and then having to wait six months for it. I had to wait all that time to get it, do I even…[love it anymore?]…With this, you see it, you love it, you can have it,” she told the magazine. “I want to be as disruptive as possible. The brand is not traditional. There is no runway show. It’s a new way of doing things because I believe that this is where fashion is going to go eventually.”
The brand is both influenced by the shifting industry tides and Rihanna’s physique.
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“I’m thick and curvy right now, and so if I can’t wear my own stuff then, I mean, that’s not gonna work, right? And my size is not the biggest size. It’s actually closer to the smallest size we have: We go up to a [French size] 46 [U.S. size 14],” she told the magazine. “We’re saying we can meet you at any one drop that we put out.” The
And much like the multi-faceted star, the line, which ranges in price from $200 for a T-shirt to $1,500 outerwear, will reflect all sides of its customers.
“I use myself as the muse. It’s sweatpants with pearls, or a masculine denim jacket with a corset. I feel like we live in a world where people are embracing every bit of who they are. Look at Jaden Smith, Childish Gambino. They dare you to tell them not to,” she said.
As for what excited buyers can anticipate, Rihanna teased the first release “is really strong and edgy, compared to the drop right after, which is a little more feminine. But the first one, there are a lot of classic pieces as well.”
Expect to see design influences like vintage postcards from Barbados hotels that the star said ended up on T-shirts or dresses featuring prints akin to ancient paintings.
Ultimately, as Rihanna put it, Fenty is “the beginning of a new world” and one that carries weight.
“I felt like this is a moment in history that I have to live up to,” she told the magazine of working with LVMH. “This is my one shot and I only get one time to do it and it can’t be wrong.”
However, as is always unapologetically the case with the star, she is going to do it her way. “I’m young. I’m new to the family. I’m a woman. Those factors do come into play, but I will not apologize for them, and I will not back down from being a woman, from being black, from having an opinion,” she told the magazine. “I’m running a company and that’s exactly what I came here to do.”
