Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty makes India debut with Nykaa

Pop sensation Rihanna’s beauty brand, Fenty Beauty, on Thursday, 7 March, launched its line of products in India, in partnership with Nykaa.

Fenty Beauty, which joins a list of celebrity-run beauty brands in India, launched 22 of its products through Nykaa’s Cross Border Store, which houses 100+ global brands that directly deliver their products to the customer from an international location.

Although the full range of products can’t be seen on Nykaa, consumers can find popular products such as Gloss Bomb, Match Stix Matte Contour Skinstick, and the Pro Filt’R foundation, which is available in all original 50 shades, on Nykaa’s website. 

Fenty Beauty’s entry in India signifies a growing trend of Western beauty brands recognizing the potential of the Indian market. Chanel had opened its first beauty store in Mumbai earlier this year.

 

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“We are thrilled to begin our partnership with one of the most innovative and disruptive beauty brands in the world, Fenty Beauty,” said Anchit Nayar, chief executive of Nykaa E-Retail. “The brand’s ethos of diversity and inclusivity are a perfect fit for Nykaa’s mission of democratizing beauty for all Indians”

Rihanna highlighted the brand’s inclusive vision while sharing her thoughts on the launch. 

“Expanding to India is so exciting because the more people can feel beautiful, recognized, and empowered, no matter their ethnicity, culture, skin tone or style the better,” she said in a statement.

Fenty Beauty had launched in 2017 across 17 countries, and was valued at $2.8 billion in November last year.

Rihanna was recently in India to perform at the pre-wedding bash of Akash Ambani, son of Reliance Industries Ltd chairman Mukesh Ambani, and Radhika Merchant, daughter of businessman Viren Merchant.

Speculation was rife about the potential business dynamics of the performance as Reliance Retail, helmed by Ambani’s daughter, Isha Ambani, had already acquired beauty retailer Sephora India in November last year.

In June last year, actor and singer Selena Gomez’s beauty brand, Rare Beauty, had launched with Sephora India, with most products sold out within hours of the launch despite consumer complaints about the sizable markups from the US retail price.