Rihanna Is Launching a Fashion Label—and It’s an Even Bigger Deal Than You Think

She may not have made an appearance at this year's Met Gala (*sob*), but Rihanna is officially poised to take over, well, everything. With beauty, lingerie and gardening (well, possibly) in the bag, it's time for the star to move on to the big stuff: super luxe fashion.

According to an official announcement from LVMH—following plenty of speculation—Bad Gal RiRi will be presenting her first major fashion collection in Paris, later this month. The range will include ready-to-wear, shoes, accessories and jewelry, per the report. Naturally, the line will also be called Fenty.

“Designing a line like this with LVMH is an incredibly special moment for us,” Rihanna said in the statement. She also noted that LVMH chairman and chief executive Bernard Arnault had given her “no artistic limits” when designing the luxury line. 

And as exciting as it is that Rihanna is getting into luxury fashion, the moment has even bigger implications than it seems. For starters, Fenty will be the first fashion brand launched from scratch by LVMH since the haute couture maison of Christian Lacroix was founded in 1987. That's huge. Even more, this makes Rihanna the first-ever black woman to design for LVMH. Let that sink in.

Of course, this isn't Rihanna's first venture with LVMH. Fenty Beauty was also “launched in partnership with LVMH beauty incubator Kendo,” per Business of Fashion. And RiRi isn't entirely new to fashion design, either. She previously created a line of shoes and athletic-inspired apparel under the Fenty x Puma label (which was a venture from Kering, an LVMH rival).

An initial report by Business of Fashion stated that Rihanna will be a 49.99 percent shareholder in the new Fenty label and that LVMH has put up more than $30 million in cash to fund the venture. (Rihanna, meanwhile, will contribute her time, name and the value that comes with her personal brand.) As Vox puts it, “the basic idea and general presence of Rihanna is worth more than $30 million.”

So next year's Met Ball will be Rihanna-themed, right?