Streetwear brand Madhappy targets Millennials and Generation Z.
LVMH Luxury Ventures, the investment arm of the world's largest manufacturer and retailer of luxury goods, has invested in up-and-coming streetwear brand Madhappy. The Los Angeles-based brand targets Millennials and Generation Z.
LVMH invested $1.8 million in Madhappy's startup business. Among other major players participating in the investment round are Tommy Hilfiger and founders of the fast casual Sweetgreen restaurants.
Subdivision LVMH Luxury Ventures was founded specifically to invest in brands with great potential in 2017. The fund has invested in American women's clothing and accessories brand Gabriela Hearst and French pharmacy company l'Officine Universelle Buly, among others.
The Madhappy brand was founded in the spring of 2017 by four 20-year-old school friends who, through their work, tried to "transmit a positive message with which brand customers could feel part of the community."
“During the launch of the brand, we felt like there was a lot of negativity around the world and we wanted to be the opposite of that. It all started as a paradox of the name Madhappy and has grown into a movement aimed at spreading positivity,” said co-founder Peyman Raf in a recent interview with Forbes.
At the first stage, only T-shirts and sweatshirts were sold under the Madhappy brand, which could be found in limited quantities in pop-up stores in Los Angeles. Recently, in the wake of growing popularity, the owners of the brand have opened their own temporary stores in New York, Miami and Aspen, a ski resort in Colorado.
The range of the brand has also expanded significantly: today, men's and women's home wear, as well as T-shirts and cycling shorts, designed for a youth audience, have appeared on sale. Prices for Madhappy-branded products range from $35 for a logo baseball cap to $185 for a hoodie. The brand is popular among celebrities and is worn by supermodel Gigi Hadid and hip-hop singer Cardi B.
