Rihanna and LVMH are reportedly teaming up on a luxury fashion brand

Rihanna in her Fenty shades

Rumors swirled this week that Rihanna was launching her own line of sunglasses after she was spotted in a pair of shades bearing the Fenty logo. The pop star has introduced both a lingerie line and a makeup range under the Fenty name (her own surname) over the past two years.

But reports in WWD and the New York Times suggest that Rihanna has her sights on a venture far more ambitious than sunglasses. The singer-turned-entrepreneur will reportedly team up with luxury fashion conglomerate LVMH to start her own high-end fashion brand.

If the reports are true, Rihanna stands to become the first black woman designer at LVMH. From Kanye West to Jessica Simpson — fashion is rife with rappers, singers, actors, and reality stars with their own lines at department stores and the like. But having a luxury fashion house in one’s honor has been off limits to most celebrities. Rihanna would be the rare celebrity to break this barrier in the high-fashion world.

Rihanna’s rise in the industry began with her 2013 clothing collection for the British brand River Island. But the success of her more recent undertakings, Fenty Beauty and lingerie line Savage x Fenty, has made Rihanna one of the brightest stars in an industry contending with Instagram influencers, the success of “street” brands, and one PR scandal after another. In Rihanna, LVMH has found a woman of color with influence, street cred, and a love for inclusion; she represents the way forward for fashion.

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