Celebrity labels have become a defining trend in fashion, beauty and lifestyle retail. With fame and capital on their side, celebrities launch brands with instant visibility that traditional start-ups can only dream of. Yet visibility isn’t durability. In a crowded marketplace where repeat purchase, distribution and operational discipline matter most, star power alone rarely builds business momentum over the long term.
What separates the fleeting from the lasting is execution—and the partners who provide it. A clear pattern is emerging globally and in India: celebrity brands that identify and integrate serious operational partners—platforms, retailers or business builders with deep category expertise—are the ones that scale, remain relevant and achieve financial traction.
Where the model works: targeted partnerships and scale
Kay Beauty (Katrina Kaif + Nykaa)
Katrina Kaif’s beauty brand, launched in partnership with Nykaa in 2019, has become one of India’s most successful celebrity beauty ventures. The brand recorded ~₹350 crore in gross sales—up about 46% from the prior year—placing it among Nykaa’s top-performing beauty labels.
This performance is remarkable in a category where celebrity lines often struggle to convert buzz into repeat purchases. Kay Beauty’s success stems from a hybrid strategy combining product relevance, digital commerce scale and platform distribution, with Nykaa’s infrastructure providing omnichannel reach.
Ed-a-Mamma (Alia Bhatt → Reliance Retail)
Launched in 2020 at a time when supply chains were under strain, Ed-a-Mamma took a distribution-first approach. It leveraged ethical, multi-city manufacturing partnerships and immediate presence across marketplaces like Myntra, FirstCry and others. Within months, it rose into the top three kidswear brands on a leading Indian marketplace, and was later acquired (51% stake) by Reliance Retail at a reported valuation of around ₹300–350 crore—a testament to its execution-led growth. (Internal industry reporting)
One8 (Virat Kohli + Agilitas Sports)
One8’s recent move into Agilitas Sports signals another emerging model: strategic operational alignment mid-journey. Rather than relying solely on licensing or endorsement, Kohli’s partnership brings in Abhishek Ganguly, a respected operator credited with scaling Puma to outpace Nike in India. Agilitas’s strengths include in-house manufacturing, design control, omnichannel distribution and licensing portfolios (e.g., lotto)—foundations critical for long-term brand scale in athleisure.
A global perspective: success with scale and structure
The pattern is visible globally as well. Celebrity beauty giants like Fenty Beauty have become benchmarking success stories; Fenty’s revenue was valued near $600 million in 2025, and its estimated valuation is around $2.8 billion, driven by inclusive product strategy and strong distribution tie-ups.
Other global stars have replicated this model:
- Rare Beauty (Selena Gomez): ~$370 million in annual revenue, widely recognised for blending purpose with performance.
- Skims (Kim Kardashian): ~$1 billion in annual net sales and growing retail footprint, combining celebrity influence with strategic retail partnerships.
- Fabletics (Kate Hudson): subscription economics and data-driven inventory control helped build a resilient activewear business with broad cultural appeal.
Even in categories beyond beauty, data shows that brand traction + operational reinvestment correlates with sustainability, while hype-only ventures often falter.
Where celebrity brands stumble
Not all celebrity labels survive beyond launch. Hype can fade fast if product relevance and distribution depth are missing.
- Nush (Anushka Sharma): Lacked differentiation and pricing advantage in an already competitive fast-fashion segment, leading to gradual market fade.
- All About You (Deepika Padukone): Fashion label struggled to maintain category relevance amid intense competition and limited distribution scale.
- 82°E (Deepika Padukone): Despite strong celebrity involvement, early profitability challenges and ongoing losses underscore the complexity and capital intensity of beauty businesses without platform backing.
- Ivy Park (Beyoncé × Adidas): Even global fashion/athleisure collaborations can struggle when creative direction and commercial execution aren’t tightly aligned.
- Yeezy (Kanye West × Adidas): Demonstrates how reputational risk can swiftly undermine brand value—reinforcing that celebrity appeal carries operational and brand risk that must be managed strategically.
Celebrity brands today: a crowded but evolving landscape
The global beauty and lifestyle industry is massive—estimated at $677 billion in 2025—with continued growth driven by consumer demand across categories. Within this space, celebrity brands are capturing a meaningful slice but are increasingly competing against non-celebrity incumbents and digitally native challengers.
In the beauty segment specifically, a cadre of celebrity lines—such as Fenty, Rare Beauty, Kylie Cosmetics and others—lead category revenues, showing that when celebrity equity is underpinned by strategic execution, scale is possible.
What separates icons from ornamentation
Celebrity brands that endure typically display a mix of:
- Partnership with experienced operators
- Equity alignment that incentivises long-term thinking
- Distribution depth across channels
- Product quality with repeat purchase economics
- Scalability beyond initial buzz
In contrast, celebrity vanity projects without such foundations often wither when the novelty wears off.
Snapshot: Celebrity brands—revenue & scale
| Brand | Celebrity | Category | Recent/Estimated Revenue | Notes |
| Kay Beauty | Katrina Kaif | Beauty | ₹350 crore GMV | 46% growth; top 5 beauty brand on Nykaa |
| Ed-a-Mamma | Alia Bhatt | Kidswear | ~₹300–350 crore valuation post-Reliance acquisition | Marketplace distribution success |
| One8 | Virat Kohli | Athleisure | N/A (strategic realignment with Agilitas) | Operator-led growth model |
| Fenty Beauty | Rihanna | Beauty | ~$600M (2025 est.) | Global brand with broad distribution |
| Rare Beauty | Selena Gomez | Beauty | ~$370M (2023) | Emotional brand with strong social traction |
| Skims | Kim Kardashian | Lifestyle/athleisure | ~$1B net sales | Retail partnerships and expansion |
| Nush | Anushka Sharma | Fashion | Declined | Weak differentiation |
| 82°E | Deepika Padukone | Beauty | Losses reported FY25 | Platform-agnostic challenges |
Looking ahead: strategic evolution of celebrity brands
As the beauty and lifestyle categories mature, celebrity brands are evolving from hype-driven launches to partnership-driven businesses. Platforms and operators offer the infrastructure needed for scale, while celebrities provide the cultural cachet that attracts initial attention.
The future belongs to those who translate fame into repeat commerce, backed by distribution networks, operator discipline and product relevance. In that model, celebrity is not a substitute for business fundamentals—it is an accelerator.
When celebrity equity is harnessed alongside strong execution, the result is not just another brand, but an iconic one.
