Fenty

Rihanna for Fenty x Puma
Rihanna certainly knows how to make her fans wait for all good things. Much like her music, the artist’s foray into athleisure with Puma had been on hiatus for a while. The last collection from the much-loved Fenty x Puma line came out in 2017, however, this year seems to keep on giving when it comes to Rihanna.
After an eventful few months—a comeback to the stage with the Super Bowl Halftime show, an Oscar nomination, and a second child on the way— the star has just announced the return of her collaboration with Puma. The sportswear giant unveiled the news across social media with a post that gave away just enough with the words “She’s back” accompanied by the Fenty and Puma logos on a dark background.

During her previous stint with Puma, which began in 2014 when she joined as creative director, Rihanna garnered a lot of critical acclaim for her work. Developing a playful signature style that was true to her identity, she gave the athleisure market in the 2010s something new and unusual.
With items like heeled boots, oversized graphic hoodies, and moto-gear, the musician-turned-businesswoman created several high-selling collections. Fans of the musician might even remember struggling to get their hands on the coveted and often-sold-out Fenty x Puma Creepers or the fur slides.
Photo: Instagram.com/fentycorp
The previous Fenty x Puma shows at New York Fashion Week are imprinted on pop culture memory and are most certainly the original extravaganza-filled events that Rihanna has since become known for thanks to her annual Savage x Fenty show – one of these kicked off with motocross stunts across pink sand dunes.
Only time will tell if this latest Fenty x Puma line will stay true to the original or if Rihanna will be giving the collection an overhaul with inspiration from experiences such as developing a line with LVMH in 2019 or incorporating high levels of diversity and inclusivity in her lingerie brand Savage x Fenty.
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Fenty Beauty’s latest launch is…ketchup? In an April Fool’s reminiscent release, the Rihanna-founded beauty brand has just dropped a collaboration with MSCHF, inspired by tomato ketchup. The MSCHF x Fenty Beauty Ketchup Or Makeup set presents six identical sachets, styled like individual sauce packages. Some contain ketchup, the others are filled with Fenty beauty’s best selling Gloss Bomb lip gloss in a cherry hue.
Retailing for US$25, the collector’s item is available at a New York hotdog stand pop-up, or online at KetchupOrMakeup.com. Reactions online have been mixed, with some Fenty fans agog at the surprise launch, while other social media commenters are confused by the left field collaboration.
Unfamiliar with MSCHF? The art collective specializes in off-kilter collabs – some real, some imaginary – with unexpected celebrities and brand names, creating sometimes bizarre pairings. MSCHF has previously released the Lil Nas x Nikes, Jimmy Fallon’s Gobstomper sneakers, mocked up Birkenstock sandals produced from a disassembled Hermes Birkin, and produced the headline grabbing Eat the Rich ice cream truck.

Photo credits: Julien Hekimian

Rihanna’s LVMH-backed fashion house Fenty is shuttering less than two years after its launch. The luxury conglomerate has pledged to support Fenty Beauty and Fenty Skin and to back the businesswoman’s successful lingerie line Savage X Fenty, with the help of private equity giant L Catterton, which recently led a $115 million Series B fundraising round for the underwear arm of Rihanna’s Fenty umbrella.
“LVMH and Rihanna reaffirm their ambition to concentrate on the growth and the long-term development of the Fenty ecosystem, focusing on cosmetics, skincare and lingerie,” LVMH and Rihanna told WWD, citing the decision to put the ready-to-wear activity on hold as pending “better conditions”.
Indeed, the pandemic left Rihanna estranged from the Fenty atelier in Paris and the Italian manufacturing outlets that are vital to its direct-to-consumer retail model. For a hands-on designer – who once told Vogue, “I know what’s gone into the making of every single piece… if I can’t wear my stuff then it just won’t work” – this separation, during an incubation period when Rihanna was still getting a handle on the luxury fashion market – proved too costly. While the US-based Fenty Beauty soared in popularity, the European Fenty maison never gained global traction.
Eagle-eyed Rihanna fans will have already been pondering the reason why @Fenty stopped posting via Instagram on 1 January, and halted its six-to-eight week micro collection drops in November. Its last marketing push was around its second Amina Muaddi collaboration. The sass-laden heels, reflecting the Fenty DNA and Muaddi’s own feminine-meets-sculptural aesthetic, were a highlight of the Fenty offering, along with the Instagrammable sunglasses which found favour among the model set. WWD reports that it is understood the e-commerce site will go dark in the next few weeks.
Upon unveiling her groundbreaking Fenty fashion house and rewriting the rulebook at a storied luxury stable, Rihanna told Vogue, “I really appreciate that LVMH is flexible enough to allow me to have a different perspective on how I want to release things. Mr Arnault [Bernard Arnault, chairman and CEO, LVMH] is not an idiot, he’s a very smart man and he’s open.” Ultimately, Fenty’s bottom line was not up to LVMH’s high standards in a tough climate for all fashion brands. Here’s hoping that fashion’s power player does not give up on the first luxury fashion brand it started from scratch – and the first helmed by a Black woman.
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Originally published on Vogue.co.uk

Courtesy of Fenty

Romanian-Jordanian designer Amina Muaddi recently launched her second collection in collaboration with megastar Rihanna’s brand, Fenty.  The collection, called ’11-20′ features four new designs in pumps, sandals, and slingbacks. Rihanna has been a long-time admirer of Muaddi’s shoe brand, regularly seen sporting her shoes over the last few years – which makes this second collaboration not a surprise.

“When I’m designing for Fenty, I think of Rihanna – she needs to like them,” Muaddi told Vogue earlier this year. “But in general I don’t think of a particular person, because I feel like every woman can be an Amina Muaddi woman or a Fenty woman. It’s not that I think women will like the whole collection, but I think there’s a little something for everybody,” she added. The release on the Fenty website said, “Fenty explores one of its core beliefs in the last and final Release of the summer – to work with a diverse community of creative talents. Long heralded as one of Robyn Rihanna Fenty’s favorite shoe designers, Amina Muaddi has been tapped to co-design shoes for Release 7-20 – a limited edition of bold styles and colors.” It follows on the heels of Muaddi’s first collaboration with Fenty in July. Just after the collection drop, Muaddi posted pictures from the new collection on her Instagram sharing, “We’re back! Amina x @fenty @badgalriri about to get you Caged In again 💙🤍🖤”

The new line remains true to Rihanna’s edgy Fenty ethos with accents of Muaddi’s embellishments and colors. The collection features shoes in a variety of colors from hot pink to electric blue, in true Muaddi style. Although, unlike Muaddi’s wide-flared heels, this design features tapered or straight “metal” heels that look like they could go right back into the shoe if needed. The pair launched their first capsule collection in July and decided to work on a second collaboration due to the successful reception of the collection in spite of the pandemic.

The new collection will be available now on fenty.com and will also release on Farfetch and levelshoes.com.
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