BENGALURU: Reliance Retail has acquired Anomaly Haircare, the global haircare label founded by actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas, as it accelerates its push into beauty and personal care.
The deal includes ownership of trademarks and digital assets with plans to scale the brand across India and global markets using Reliance’s omnichannel ecosystem, including its Tira platform, it said in a statement on Thursday.
Mint unpacks why Reliance Retail is assembling a celebrity-led brand portfolio despite these companies reporting losses.
What are the celebrity brands Reliance Retail has backed?
Reliance Retail’s playbook has increasingly leaned on star power. The company had bought a majority stake in actor Alia Bhatt’s kidswear brand Ed-a-Mamma in July 2023.
It acquired a 40% stake in celebrity stylist Manish Malhotra’s luxury ethnic wear brand MM Styles in 2021, and bought a majority stake in celebrity stylist Ritu Kumar’s label the same year. Other key investments include Satya Paul in 2018.
Together, these form a house of brands spanning fashion, beauty, and lifestyle.
Which are the other companies that have celebrity brands in their portfolio?
Reliance Retail, led by Isha Ambani, isn’t the only company seeking such brands.
Nykaa, which currently runs a joint venture with actor Katrina Kaif for cosmetics brand Kay Beauty, is in talks to acquire Deepika Padukone’s 82E, as per a report by The Economic Times. Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail (ABFRL) owns the Virat Kohli-backed Wrogn, while Myntra owns Hrithik Roshan’s fitness apparel brand HRX.
Why are celebrity brands struggling in India?
Most of the celebrity brands backed by Reliance continue to deliver mixed results. Ed-A-Mamma’s FY24 net loss stood at ₹19 crore, while Ritu Kumar’s FY25 operating revenue fell 5% to ₹269 crore, and net losses widened to ₹49 crore. MM Styles’ FY25 net profit fell to ₹23.7 crore in FY25, down from ₹34.3 crore in the previous year, as per financial statements accessed by business intelligence platform Tofler.
82°E reported a 30% year-on-year decline in revenue to ₹14.7 crore in FY25, while losses stood at ₹12.26 crore. Wrogn’s FY25 losses widened 32% YoY to ₹75 crore.
To be sure, Reliance Retail, the retail arm of Reliance Industries Ltd, reported a net profit of ₹13,842 crore in FY26, up 11.7% year-on-year.
“Companies often believe that the persona of the celebrity is sufficient for customers to buy and love the product. This is a fallacious assumption. There is no data to prove any significant gain to a company chasing this strategy,” said Arvind Singhal, chairman at retail consultancy The Knowledge Company.
Crucially, celebrity appeal doesn’t always translate into loyalty. Star power may drive initial trials, but repeat purchases hinge on product quality, pricing and consistency. “Marketing can jumpstart demand, but not sustain it without clear product-market fit,” Madhur Singhal, managing partner (consumer & internet) at Praxis Global Alliance, noted.
The Indian retail market is also undergoing structural change. Beauty and personal care, for example, is intensely crowded, spanning legacy FMCG giants, digital-first disruptors and influencer-led labels, making differentiation difficult and customer acquisition expensive.
At the same time, despite its high potential, fashion – another key category for celebrity brands – is facing a demand slowdown, with uneven discretionary spending pushing consumers toward value and forcing premium labels into discount-led growth.
What’s the silver lining?
Despite near-term financial pressures, celebrity-led brands may offer some strategic advantages (although weak) for a player like Reliance Retail.
For one, they deliver instant visibility. A well-known face can cut through advertising clutter, reduce customer acquisition costs over time, and accelerate brand discovery. Celebrity association also builds trust faster, particularly in categories like beauty, where consumers are experimenting with new products.
“Celebrity endorsements enable trial and, if products are good, also generate trust and repeat quickly,” Praxis’ Singhal said.
There is also a portfolio benefit. Having multiple brands across price points and categories allows Reliance to target different consumer segments and build a laddered offering from mass-premium to aspirational luxury. This “house of brands” approach is common globally but still evolving in India.
“Large retailers like Reliance Retail can leverage their distribution network to scale up the brands, especially with multiple retail formats and various retail brands with different price positioning,” Praxis’ Singhal said.
Execution, however, will continue to be a challenge, especially for turning visibility into sustained demand while managing costs and avoiding brand dilution in an increasingly crowded market, The Knowledge Company’s Singhal added.