Louis Vuitton is stepping into the makeup arena at last. The brand has snapped up one of the industry’s most avant-garde makeup artists, Pat McGrath, as its creative director of cosmetics to take on one of the most competitive luxury markets: beauty.
On Wednesday, Louis Vuitton announced the upcoming launch of its makeup line, La Beauté Louis Vuitton, slated to debut in Autumn 2025. “La Beauté Louis Vuitton is a natural business evolution, driven by our meticulous attention to quality, formula and innovation. Through this new universe, we have the opportunity to further accompany clients in their everyday lives with purpose and pleasure, while continuing to celebrate our creativity and heritage,” said Pietro Beccari, Louis Vuitton chairman and CEO, in a statement.
Vogue’s global beauty and wellness director Jessica Diner reveals the much-anticipated collaboration, as well as what is to come from both Pat McGrath and Louis Vuitton.
The collection will include 55 lipsticks, 10 lip balms and eight eyeshadow palettes, alongside a range of dedicated small leather goods, in the form of lipstick cases and a miniature trunk. The move cements LVMH’s ambitions to expand its beauty footprint. But in a market where players like Dior, Chanel and Hermès have long set the luxury beauty standard — and the makeup category slows — how will Louis Vuitton carve out a distinctive position?
Smart timing
Louis Vuitton’s long-awaited beauty expansion hits a market sweet spot, capitalising on the fallout from the luxury slowdown and price hikes that have alienated aspirational customers.
“Aspirational customers have been wiped out by pricing and now they can come back to the brand, like we’ve seen with Zendaya’s Murakami collection, and it’ll be super compelling, joyful and well priced,” says Erwan Rambourg, global head of consumer and retail research at HSBC. For Rambourg, beauty allows Louis Vuitton to flex its democratic luxury positioning — offering bespoke bags at Hermès-level price points while engaging a younger, not necessarily ultra-wealthy audience with sneakers, fragrances and now cosmetics. “The move rebuilds a crucial stepping stone for aspirational consumers,” he says.
Louis Vuitton has a distinct niche that bodes well for La Beauté. “We’ll never know how much makeup will account for Louis Vuitton,” Rambourg says — LVMH does not break out sales for LV, but HSBC estimates the brand is close to €22 billion in global sales for fiscal 2024. “But at least it creates buzz. It creates what has been missing in luxury for the past 18 months, notably in the US, which is traffic. People queue at Louis Vuitton and it’s not artificial queues, there’s a buzz there and that’ll serve the makeup expansion.”
But is it a late entry? While Chanel, Dior, and Hermès have already carved out space in the beauty industry, Lisa Payne, head of beauty trends at intelligence firm Stylus, sees the 2025 launch as a savvy play. “They’ve let other brands build the hype, and now they can capitalise on peak designer beauty fever,” she says.
Beyond timing, Louis Vuitton has honed two distinct market advantages: collectable beauty and creative expertise. “The brand is feeding into the growing ‘heirloom-ification’ trend — think refillable lipsticks and compacts so exquisitely designed they become generational keepsakes,” says Payne. This fusion of heritage and innovation, still underexplored by competitors, positions La Beauté as both a luxury indulgence and a soon-to-be heirloom.
Meanwhile, Louis Vuitton’s strategic recruitment of in-house talent from Pharrell Williams for menswear to perfume nose Jacques Cavallier Belletrud and now makeup maestro McGrath gives the brand a powerful point of difference in an increasingly crowded market. “If you’re launching into a saturated space, you need a unique story to tell,” Rambourg says.
Navigating a new industry
Bringing McGrath on board signals a strong commitment to artistry and product innovation — a must-have for today’s savvy and fussy beauty customer that demands money well spent.
“The beauty universe is about so much more than just product, and what we are creating here will unlock a new level in luxury beauty,” McGrath said in a statement. McGrath’s decades-long career spans defining runway moments at Alexander McQueen, Anna Sui, Valentino, Maison Margiela and Dior, alongside her eponymous brand, renowned for high-performance, pigment-rich formulations. She is also famous for her backstage innovations, such as using unconventional materials like gold leaf and Swarovski crystals to create never-before-seen textures in makeup. Leaning into such a creative force — one who understands cosmetics and fuels cultural cachet — is a strategic move for a luxury player making its beauty debut, says Payne.
Louis Vuitton enters beauty with significant advantages. But the launch will require more than translating its monogrammed prestige into lipstick tubes.
Competition is fierce, with players reshaping and others looking to rebalance in the industry. “Estée Lauder’s aggressive expansion into China and travel retail over the past two decades exemplifies the shifting tides,” says Pauline Oudin, CEO of gradient marketing agency. “While that strategy delivered strong returns for years, it left the brand vulnerable in the US, where niche, digitally native brands gained ground. Today, the most influential beauty brands on social media have emerged within the past decade, proving that new prestige players are reshaping the industry and capturing market share.” Meanwhile, Chanel is doubling down on quality control, introducing barcodes to its beauty packaging to combat counterfeits and reinforce exclusivity. For Louis Vuitton, agility will be critical as the landscape demands a mix of quality, high-growth channels, innovation and consumer retention.
Beyond product, the brand’s chief exec Beccari, along with creative leadership, must prioritise immersive experiences — whether through AI-powered diagnostics, hyper-personalised formulations, or exclusive activations — as a key differentiator. Luxury beauty consumers increasingly expect a heightened level of engagement that blends technology, personalisation and exclusivity, experts say. Vuitton has already laid the groundwork for high-touch retail experiences through its fashion and accessories business, with store concepts that integrate art, hospitality and bespoke services, but it mustn’t rest on its laurels in beauty.
“Consumers seek an interactive journey, from AI-powered diagnostics to hyper-personalised formulations and exclusive activations that bring brands to life. Simply replicating what already exists won’t work,” says Oudin. Louis Vuitton’s expansion into beauty presents an opportunity to reimagine how luxury beauty is experienced, whether through standalone boutiques, VIP clienteling, or digitally driven experiential spaces within its flagship stores.
Hermès has proven that ultra-luxury pricing can succeed in beauty, with its $90 lipsticks and $150 blushes reinforcing exclusivity rather than deterring consumers. Vuitton must also justify its premium positioning with exceptional quality, craftsmanship and innovation. Ellie Thorpe, global director at international research company Kantar, says the brand’s strong pricing power, backed by its dominant status within LVMH, provides confidence that customers will be willing to invest in La Beauté — provided it delivers a truly differentiated offering.
With McGrath at the helm, the brand has an opportunity to disrupt the luxury beauty status quo — but only if it delivers a portfolio and universe around it that is as compelling as its fashion and leather goods.
Experts are hopeful. “Despite economic uncertainties, luxury designer beauty is aspirational and not going anywhere; demand and expectations are high, and the combination of Pat McGrath’s years of experience, future-facing approach and unreachable levels of skill is going to be incredibly powerful,” says Payne.
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