There is another celebrity fashion brand in the market. This time, it’s Kylie Jenner who wants a piece of the ever-growing pie, but will her label suffer the same fate as Fenty?

The Kardashian-Jenner family loves fashion so much that at least four members have a fashion line. There is Khloé Kardashian’s Good American and Rob Kardashian’s Arthur George (a socks brand), and matriarch Kris Jenner, who has nothing to show for yet, but, as has been reported, “filed to own rights in her name for a possible clothing business venture” two months ago. That does not include Kardashian Kollection, created by sisters Kim, Khloe and Kourtney in 2011 in collaboration with the Sears department store, but discontinued in 2015, or, as Forbes described it, dumped. Then, the two who love their monikers so intensely, their clothing brands are a riff on their names—first Kim Kardashian’s Skims and now Kylie Jenner’s Khy. Predictable naming convention aside, Ms Jenner’s line is, for now, more outerwear than underwear, and riffs on the familiar silhouette that older half-sister Kim has made popular.

In the first hour of launch (two days ago), Khy made US$1 million in sales, according to People. If that is indeed true, there is a demand for the dominatrix-dominant styles she has proposed for her brand’s fall debut. The sales is not unimpressive considering that the launch itself was not a rousing affair and that the line is small in range—just 12 pieces—and they are mostly made in vegan leather (really faux leather), which some industry observers have called out as “plastic”. Unable to feel the fabric, it is hard to say if they are of exceptional quality and if they would fall as beautifully as leather does on the body. The silhouette of the line is limited (even the colour: just black) and unabashedly drawn from Balenciaga (which at one time, Kim Kardashian was really fond of), with some even saying that the clothes could have come from Kanye West, whose own aesthetic is gleaned from Balenciaga. We think that even Rick Owens is whipped into the unspectacular blackness.

On paper, Khy—conceived so that, as Ms Jenner told Elle, “everyone can enjoy”—has commercial potential. But what sounds good may not turn out to look good. The brand enjoys the help of the married duo of Emma and Jens Grede, who are also behind Skims and Good American, as well as the design input of the Berlin brand Namilia that targets what it describes as “rebels” and “provocateurs”. By the time the clothes turn into Khy, they appear appealing to followers and conformists. Or those who admire Ms Jenner beyond her Lip Kits. For many of the styles that is not worn with outerwear, they are separates that allow the wearer to “pour”—ad it has been described—themselves into the clothes, especially those who are proud of their bountiful butts, such as “King of BBL”, Mateo Blanco.

According, Ms Jenner, the label will work with a roster of other brands. Does it mean that Schiaparelli, her favourite for a couple of seasons now, is among those that will go well with her line? Or that Daniel Roseberry is scheduled to do something with her brand? It isn’t quite clear why Kylie Jenner thought that she has sufficient fashion cred to start a line or that faux leather jackets are the natural progression after Lip Kits. She did tell Elle, “I felt like it was the perfect time [in my life]. I was having kids, and it’s always been a dream of mine to have a fashion line, especially one like this.” Postpartum urges? Or creative calling? Even if the US is the land of opportunity for celebrity brands, it is not certain that the are so successful that they deserve emulation. Jessica Simpson’s eight-year-old eponymous brand went bankrupt after she decided to sell a large stake of it, and last year, as she told CNBC, she had to “drain everything to buy it back”. Whether she has rebuilt her brand is yet to be seen. And there is, of course, Rihanna’ Fenty fashion brand, which was supported by LVMH. Even with a strong backer, Fenty is apparently “taking a break”, according to both sides in comments to the press. It’s been more than a hiatus. Is Khy positioned to be better?

Photos: Khy