Elizabeth Arden joins forces with Jay-Z

Commenting on its third quarter published last week Elizabeth Arden attributed much of its sales growth to the successful global launch of its Mariah Carrey fragrance. Now it is the turn of entrepreneur rapper Shawn 'Jay-Z' Combs to join the Elizabeth Arden fold as the company looks to attract young consumers. Under the licensing agreement with Iconix, Elizabeth Arden will produce cosmetics, fragrances and skin care products for the Rocawear brand, which was co-founded by Jay-Z in 1999. In March this year luxury fashion specialists Iconix purchased Rocawear, which now attains annual retail sales of over $700m. The licensing agreement with Elizabeth Arden was sealed this week to enable the brand to take advantage of the cosmetics company's specialized industry knowledge and marketing clout. Commenting on the partnership with Elizabeth Arder, Jay-Z said: "The combination of their expertise in fragrance and our ability to affect popular culture will produce some incredible products." ​ Plans are already afoot for the launch of a debut fragrance in the fall of 2008. Elizabeth Arden highlighted the growth of its US prestige fragrance as a key contributing factor to its strong sales performance in the latest quarter and is looking to further develop the category with this agreement. "The Rocawear name connects with the customer we want to attract,"​ said Elizabeth Arden CEO Scott Beattie. "Adding Rocawear to our line-up of lifestyle fragrance brands allows us to further diversify our multi-dimensional brand portfolio and expand our reach to a young, modern consumer."​ Jay-Z continues to spearhead product development, marketing and licensing for Rocawear and will be involved creatively with the new products developed under the licensing agreement with Elizabeth Arden. The rapper has a number of separate business interests that he maintains while remaining active as a hip-hop artist, and is well known for his ability to compose lyrics without resorting to pen and paper. He is the CEO of Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records, owns the 40/40 Club and co-owns the New Jersey Net NBA team, which all help to contribute to his estimated $547 personal fortune.