Hailey Bieber made $27 million in a day and has reached Czechia

Hailey Bieber, founder of the beauty brand Rhode, which she sold to e.l.f. Beauty for $1 billion, has reached the Czech market: within a few days, both Rhode cosmetics and a Gap jeans collection created with her appeared in Czechia. According to e.l.f. Beauty chief executive Tarang Amin, the summer launch on the Rhode website brought in $27 million in sales in a single day.

Bieber builds her business on basic products in which the shopper essentially buys her aesthetic: an always impeccably groomed woman who seems not too absorbed in herself. The approach resembles the one used by the Kardashians.

Rhode: returning customers, not fleeting interest

During the summer launch the brand gained 90 thousand new customers, but more than 70% of sales came from people who had already bought from Rhode. That points to loyal customers rather than a brief wave of interest in the founder. The brand's best-known product is an iPhone case with built-in lip gloss.

Bieber remains creative director and travels to countries where Rhode is arriving at Sephora: she has been to Paris, but has not yet made it to Prague.

Results are growing fast. In the twelve months to the end of March 2025, Rhode's net revenue was $212 million. For the following financial year, e.l.f. management is projecting roughly 390 million, including the period before the brand was acquired, growth of more than 80%. The brand launched in June 2022 with just three products: a lip treatment, a cream and a skin-care fluid. Bieber founded it together with the married couple Michael D. and Lauren Ratner. At last year's Business of Fashion conference she said she put most of the capital into the launch and wanted majority ownership and control from the start.

Gap jeans: Czech shoppers waited longer

Czech shoppers received the jeans Bieber designed with Gap only on October 8, twelve weeks later than in the U.S. The retailer did not wait to see how the collection would perform in other countries: supply was short, and the French market was given priority. “We did not want to create big expectations around a collection that we can offer only in very limited quantities,” explained Marek Drvota, CEO of GAP (CS Retail 1969), the company that distributes the brand in eleven countries of Western and Central Europe.

Gap regularly collaborates with celebrities: besides Bieber, it has brought in Victoria Beckham, whose first collection arrived in Czechia in May this year. Under GapStudio, Zac Posen, once Natalie Portman's favorite designer, works with the brand; last year he shot a campaign with Gwyneth Paltrow and her daughter Apple.

Bieber's collection is built on the jeans she wore herself. Gap changed the cut of two of her favorite vintage models, resulting in the Extra Baggy and ’90s Low Rise Loose styles in six colors. A patch on the back seam carries her birth year, 1996, and her signature is inside the pocket. The Extra Baggy style costs 1,999 crowns in the Czech online store.

The shopper gets a piece from the wardrobe of a celebrity with almost sixty million Instagram followers, while Gap attracts customers that ordinary clothing lines do not interest. But success also depends on what a person does after the first purchase. According to Drvota, such special collections are a great opportunity to attract new customers and inspire them to discover Gap. Some sizes sold out very quickly, and a new delivery is expected in November.

A new collection with Adanola

Meanwhile, Bieber has released another collection, this time with the British brand Adanola. It went on sale on October 15, and its 23 pieces of activewear are inspired by the ballet she did as a child. According to her interview with WWD, she worked on it for more than a year and took part in choosing materials and colors and refining the cut. Besides pants and tops, the range includes knitwear and ballet leg warmers.

According to data from Edited published by Vogue Business, most sizes of six styles sold out in the first week. Launchmetrics estimated the media value of the collaboration over the same period at $7.3 million.

By the Around Prague newsroom