Celebrities Who Own Fashion Brands You Never Knew About

Some of your favourite musicians, actors and influencers own fashion brands that are hiding in plain sight in your closet right now. Celebrities who own fashion brands rarely put their face on the label, choosing quiet equity stakes over loud campaigns. 

 

From Rihanna’s seat at an LVMH boardroom table to DJ Zinhle’s accessories empire built out of Johannesburg, ownership’s become less obvious than a red carpet moment. Moving past the fleeting endorsement deal and into actual ownership, we track the global names and Mzansi icons who backed a brand with:

 

  • Real money 
  • Real stake 

 

Expect global music and screen stars, South African fashion royalty and a media personality who built an entire fashion empire from scratch. We trace these hidden power moves through the borderless lines of music, style and entertainment. We go where the culture goes.

 

Elevate your perspective on celebrities who own fashion brands in SA and abroad. Follow us on Instagram for more unfiltered entertainment insights.

How Do Celebrity-Owned Fashion Brands Work?

Celebrities who own fashion brands typically fall into two camps: 

 

  1. Those who founded the label outright.
  2. Those who bought a genuine equity stake in someone else’s business.

 

Whichever path they took, expect real ownership stakes, not just a paid shoot or a single capsule collection. Some built empires that outlasted their entertainment careers, others quietly backed a founder they believed in, and a few turned a side hustle into the main event. 


Explore the breakdown, split between the global players and the local legends.

Global Music, Sports & Screen Stars With Hidden Fashion Stakes

Rihanna became the first woman of colour to lead a luxury house at LVMH when Fenty launched under the French conglomerate in 2019.

It cemented her as a true business partner, not just a brand ambassador.

 

Beyoncé co-founded Ivy Park in 2016 with Sir Philip Green of Topshop, then took full ownership before relaunching it with Adidas in 2020.

The brand runs on her vision, not a celebrity endorsement. 

 

Serena Williams holds equity beyond the court through Serena Ventures, backed by more than 60 brands, as well as her own beauty label, Wyn Beauty.

This is real ownership, not a courtside endorsement. 

 

England footballer Harry Kane holds a considerable stake in the sustainable performance-wear brand Reflo, eclipsing any standard boot deal or paid post.

Real equity, real skin in the game. 

 

Tennis star Andy Murray took an ownership position in activewear label Castore, swapping a standard sponsorship deal for genuine equity in the brand.

That’s boardroom access, not just brand loyalty.

 

Mark Wahlberg’s fashion holdings run deeper than Hollywood. He owns his own brand, Municipal, and holds a strategic stake in footwear label P448.

This isn’t a cameo. It’s a portfolio.

South African Icons Quietly Owning the Culture

Bonang Matheba built one of Mzansi’s most complete fashion empires, launching her first clothing range, Just B, with retailer Legit in 2008. The Baby Star handbag collection and the ongoing Distraction by Bonang lingerie line with Woolworths followed that.

She later took the brand global with a 2022 shoe-and-handbag collaboration with the American footwear label Steve Madden.

DJ Zinhle founded Era by DJ Zinhle in 2012, growing it from a single watch line into a full accessories brand now in its 14th year.

No side hustle here. Just a dynasty in the making.

 

Dineo Langa and her husband, Solo, co-founded a couple’s clothing brand, Port of LNG, in 2020, now stocked at The Space in retail stores nationwide.

Two entertainers. One label. Zero silent partners.

 

Each of these ventures shows a different route into ownership, from equity stakes in someone else’s brand to labels built from the ground up. Whether it’s a boardroom seat, a royalty stake or a brand built from scratch, real ownership always looks different from a paid campaign.

 

Join the crowd. Follow us on Facebook and X (Twitter), where we read the receipts behind the red carpet.

FAQs About Celebrity-Owned Clothing Brands

South African readers searching for the faces behind their favourite labels tend to ask the same handful of questions. We’ve got the answers.

What's the difference between a celebrity endorsement deal & true equity ownership?

The two often get confused, but they work in completely different ways. Here’s how they compare.

Category

Endorsement Deal

Equity Ownership

What it is

Paid to promote a product.

Holds a genuine share in the business.

Financial stake

None.

Yes, shares in profit and loss.

Decision-making

No say in the business.

Involved in strategy and direction.

Ends when

Contract expires.

Ownership stays until shares are sold.

Example

A paid ad campaign.

Rihanna’s 50% stake in Fenty Beauty.

That distinction is why Rihanna’s Fenty ventures matter. Her 50% equity stake in Fenty Beauty, another LVMH joint venture, made her a self-made billionaire in 2021. She isn’t just cashing a cheque to wear the label. She holds a genuine stake in how the business runs.

Is Rihanna's Fenty fashion house still running?

No. Fenty’s ready-to-wear fashion house, the LVMH-backed luxury Maison, paused operations in 2021. Rihanna’s other Fenty ventures are still very much alive. Fenty Beauty just launched an AI beauty advisor inside WhatsApp, its first-ever partnership with the app in the US.

Savage X Fenty dropped its Valentine’s collection with zero warning, and the internet showed up.

So, the Fenty name hasn’t gone anywhere, just the fashion line specifically.

Do celebrities actually design their own clothing lines?

Ownership and design involvement vary from brand to brand. 

 

  • Some celebrities work closely with in-house design teams on every collection, shaping fabric, fit and direction from the ground up. 
  • Others license their name and image to an established manufacturer or retailer, who handles the actual production. 

 

Both routes count as ownership, but the day-to-day involvement looks very different.

Why do some celebrity fashion brands fail while others last for decades?

Longevity usually comes down to business fundamentals rather than fame. Brands that survive tend to have one or more of three things:

 

  1. Strong supply chains.
  2. Genuine design input from the celebrity.
  3. Retail partnerships that don’t rely on a single person’s spotlight. 

 

Brands that fold quickly are often built entirely around a name, with no operational backbone to carry them once the initial hype fades.

 

Got a favourite secret fashion mogul we missed? Contact us and let us know who’s building something big.

The High Crowd: Culture Elevated

The High Crowd isn’t just content you consume. It’s a community you belong to, built around the trendsetters, creatives, and connoisseurs already shaping unseen entertainment scenes. From a boardroom seat in Paris to a couple’s clothing line stitched together in Johannesburg, these ownership stories prove culture runs on more than talent. 

 

It’s shaped by people who back what they believe in, quietly, deliberately and with real stakes on the line. This is where the crowd gathers, in our Lifestyle Hub, for unfiltered stories, because a sanitised celebrity profile never gives you the full picture. 

 

Casually curious about cannabis culture? Explore the best in puff-puff press on our THC420 page.

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