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La Beauté Louis Vuitton has entered the makeup arena.
The new collection from the luxury house includes 55 matte and satin lipsticks, 10 lip balms, eight eyeshadow palettes, blotting papers, a travel brush set and small leather vanity cases in two limited-edition colours (‘Rouge Louis’ red and ‘Tender Bliss’ pink) alongside the traditional monogram brown, and a miniature lipstick trunk. The collection will be sold exclusively at 92 Louis Vuitton stores globally, through British retailer Harrods and at two pop-up locations in New York and Dosan Park (Seoul). The launch marks the brand’s official entry into colour cosmetics.
I previewed the collection ahead of its 29 August worldwide debut, housed inside a private suite at Louis Vuitton’s London flagship on New Bond Street. At the centre of the table, sits the three hero Rouge LV lipsticks, ‘854’ (a blue-red, named after the brand’s founding year of 1854), ‘896’ (a red-brown shade, named after the year the monogram was created in 1896) and ‘Spell On You’ (a rose pink) — they’re surrounded by the full range of refillable lipsticks, eyeshadow palettes and brushes.
Each product is weighted and finished with precision: lipstick bullets and eyeshadow palette cases feature engraved monogram detailing, while refill components snap and lock back into place cleanly, with the brand’s monogrammed flower as the design mechanism. Brushes follow the same design language. Product textures are soft, hydrating and buildable, with lipsticks offering a satin finish and creamy shadows blending seamlessly. A subtle scent, developed by house perfumer Jacques Cavallier Belletrud and using an upcycled flower wax, runs through the collection without overwhelming it.
“I wanted to launch with both lips and eyes, because together, they allow you to create a full character,” says Dame Pat McGrath, the renowned makeup artist that Louis Vuitton tapped as creative director of La Beauté earlier this year. The collection is designed to encourage freedom in how wearers build their looks. McGrath notes that today’s consumers often blur product categories, using lipstick as blush, or diffusing matte pigment to create soft stains. “A bold eye paired with a soft lip or the reverse — It’s all about the power of play.”
Can Louis Vuitton turn this debut into more than a brand statement and build a meaningful business in a competitive, price-sensitive market?
Standing up in the market
McGrath describes the product development process as being guided by texture, comfort and finish. It’s a sensorial and formulation flex that global consultant management firm McKinsey recommends in its 2025 State of Fashion Beauty report, whereby global luxury makeup players should bake emotional resonance into their offerings as a way to differentiate their positioning and demonstrate aspirational allure for consumers against the growing mass colour cosmetics market. Lisa Payne, head of beauty at trend forecasting agency Stylus, says the strategy is timely.
“This focus on emotional details speaks to a wider consumer perspective shift in which beauty rituals, routines and applications are seen as selfcare touchpoints,” she explains. “‘Psycare’ [a term used to describe beauty products that support emotional well-being through texture, scent or ritual] within the beauty and personal care market, is becoming a powerful differentiator in a space that’s increasingly led by agile and competitive mass-market brands.”
Beyond formulation, Louis Vuitton leans heavily into design execution. These tactile cues reinforce brand craftsmanship, defend against dupes and support LV’s growing focus on refillability and repeat purchase formats. In-store, the brand is offering personalisation across several SKUs: lipsticks and balms can be monogrammed with initials or numbers; eyeshadow palettes engraved on the underside; and miniature vanity trunks clipped to a bag or belt, creating collectable heirloom moments. These services move to deepen in-store engagement and turn beauty into a brand-building ritual online and IRL.
High stakes
The launch arrives at a challenging moment for both the brand and the wider beauty category. Parent company LVMH reported a 9 per cent decline in its fashion and leather goods division in the second quarter of 2025, where Louis Vuitton sits. Despite this, experts predict LV remains the group’s largest contributor to earnings. Analysts at HSBC note that the brand’s EBIT contribution to LVMH could rise to 55 per cent in the coming quarters, furthering the pressure on its performance.
During the most recent earnings call, LVMH CFO Cécile Cabanis said the group would focus on the brand’s more accessible categories, including fragrance, small leather goods and now makeup. These segments carry high brand value without depending on the ultra-premium price points that have made fashion and accessories less attainable for younger customers. For Vuitton, beauty offers a new way to connect with these consumers without diluting its core brand positioning.
Still, La Beauté’s price tags are significantly higher than other luxury beauty lines. The lipstick cosmetic pouch retails for £350, while the Louis Vuitton lipstick trunk sits at £2,130. Lipsticks are priced at £120, LV ombré eyeshadow palettes at £190, lipstick refills at £52 and the brush set at £860. In comparison, eye and lip products from competitors like Hermès, Dior or Chanel fall in between £40 to £150. Based on pricing alone, this isn’t a mass acquisition play. So, instead of beauty being positioned to bolster the accessible, aspirational offering, it signals Louis Vuitton’s intent to preserve the brand’s pricing structure across categories while offering a lower barrier touchpoint that still feels exclusive to its customers and devotees wanting to enter the brand’s universe. The refillable format supports repeat purchase, but the ecosystem remains highly curated.
Pricing to stretch aspirational allure while retaining exclusivity alone, however, will not determine market success. Louis Vuitton is entering the slowing colour cosmetics market. Coty, L’Oréal and Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) have each reported weaker makeup sales in recent quarters, citing ongoing dupe culture and cautious consumer spending. In contrast, Puig saw 10.5 per cent growth in the first half of 2025, driven by Charlotte Tilbury’s continued innovation and strong consumer demand.
Pressure from copycats remains high, though. McKinsey reports that 53 per cent of global beauty consumers are open to buying dupes, which weakens pricing power and discourages repeat purchases. Louis Vuitton will need to maintain strong differentiation beyond a premium positioning and create lasting attachment to the products themselves. However, the brand’s historical design language, McGrath’s creative direction, and expertise with the emotional pull of small luxuries lend a meaningful starting point.
If the launch and rollout perform well, Louis Vuitton could use beauty to unlock additional revenue through refill purchases, limited-edition drops, and higher-frequency retail engagement while having the cachet and capital to grow in the category. And more importantly, it could reintroduce the brand to aspirational customers who have been priced out of its fashion and leather goods division.
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