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Louis Vuitton — no longer content to produce merely handbags, clothes, watches, jewellery, shoes, perfumes and chocolate — will soon introduce a new category, or “métier”: cosmetics.
Luxury’s largest brand by revenues, which reached an estimated €21.9bn last year, has tapped British make-up artist Pat McGrath as creative director of the new venture, which will launch this autumn in 116 Louis Vuitton stores with 55 lipsticks (for the Roman numeral LV), 10 lip balms and eight eye shadow palettes.
Accompanying the make-up will be a range of leather goods to cosset them, including small trunks and lipstick pouches that draw on the designs of vanity cases the company first produced in 1854. The formulas and packaging are all being manufactured in France, and the leather goods at Louis Vuitton’s European ateliers, the company said.
The range expands the brand’s offer of entry-level products following steep price increases in handbags, jewellery and other core luxury categories across the industry since 2020, which have alienated young shoppers who no longer see the value in expensive luxury goods. It is also chief executive Pietro Beccari’s first major venture since joining Louis Vuitton from Dior early last year, and marks another step in Vuitton’s evolution from a luxury fashion entity into a “cultural brand”.
“Beauty is part of the life of people, of young people, men and girls, anybody,” Beccari said in a video call from Paris. “We want to be there.”
However, Louis Vuitton is a late entrant to the crowded “prestige” make-up category (where prices range from about £45 to £80 for colour cosmetics). And brands perceived to have scientific credentials, or those led by make-up artists with strong social media followings, have an advantage over brands that merely offer slick packaging and a prestigious name, analysts say.
Prada, Celine and Dries Van Noten have all introduced cosmetics in the past five years, while Burberry relaunched itself into the category last year, joining established luxury players such as Chanel, Dior, Giorgio Armani and YSL Beauty. Prada-owned Miu Miu is slated to launch a beauty line later this year.
But Louis Vuitton has a sterling record when it comes to breaking into established categories such as jewellery and perfume, says Erwan Rambourg, an HSBC analyst and a former Cartier executive. When Louis Vuitton launched fragrances in 2016, “they were the exception to the rule. The way they did it — selling only in Vuitton stores, with beautiful packaging, an internal nose [Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud], beautiful fragrances — they did it very well.”
“What is more crowded than fragrance?” says Beccari. “We did it a particular way, with packaging by Frank Gehry, with long-lasting and particularly rich, rare ingredients. We can afford to be more expensive than others and we do not have the cost of distribution.”
Louis Vuitton is following a similar playbook for cosmetics. The company has given McGrath — who has conjured up the beauty looks for Louis Vuitton shows for over two decades and is the founder of her own make-up line, Pat McGrath Labs — carte blanche to develop formulas and packaging.
“She knew where we could be unique,” says Beccari. “We are one of the few companies who could ask her to do a project without limits, to imagine what are the best products, the best shades.”
McGrath said in a separate call there were “no compromises” when it came to product development. She also wants to “make sure that I reach every skin tone, that everyone feels included.”
Products will only ever be distributed in Vuitton stores, of which there are more than 400 worldwide. “At Louis Vuitton we have some taboos and one of them is distribution; every Louis Vuitton product is sold by Louis Vuitton hands,” says Beccari. “You will never, ever find [Louis Vuitton] in Sephora.”
Louis Vuitton enters the category amid softening demand for luxury and beauty products, although the latter continues to outperform for luxury groups. LVMH’s perfumes and cosmetics division posted a 4 per cent sales increase between 2023 and 2024 as its core fashion and leather goods division declined 1 per cent, while Gucci owner Kering reported a 8 per cent increase for its Eyewear and Corporate segment (which includes beauty) as fashion and leather goods sales fell.
Beccari indicated Louis Vuitton is already at work on adjacent beauty products, saying the range could be extended to “skincare, foundation, anything you could imagine”. Beyond beauty, the company is also expanding its furniture and homewares range with an unveiling at Salone del Mobile in Milan in April.
Beccari declined to share the company’s financial targets for its beauty division, insisting the company had not modelled them. “We do not need beauty to survive,” he said. “Of course we do not want to do something that diminishes our profitability, but it’s not the main issue. The issue is to do things properly, that can serve as an entry to our brand. There are many entrances; now we have one more.”
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