The launch of Louis Vuitton’s $160 lipstick is an intentionally strategic move redefining the preferred models of the luxury beauty counterculture. By elevating itself above the rest of the industry in pricing for a debut color cosmetics collaboration with the legendary make-up artist Pat McGrath, the LVMH-owned house is reinforcing its own commitment to exclusivity, craftsmanship, and aspirational appeal whilst driving growth through their piece of the beauty portfolio.
The premium pricing of exclusivity
The staggering $160 lipstick suggests for a mere fact that Louis Vuitton is sitting isolated in the world of luxury beauty competition. The Rouge Allure L’Extrait fill-ups from Chanel sell for about $50 a piece, while Tom Ford’s signature Lip Color Matte sells for around $62, Rouge Dior refillable by Dior at around $50, Rouge Pur Couture Satin Lipstick by YSL for some approximate $48, L’Oréal Lip Power Matte Long-Lasting Lipstick from Armani for about $45. What Louis Vuitton has achieved is setting its pricing far above actual fashion accessories, thus defining an ultra-luxury category-founder in its own right and aligning it in status with the crème de la crème offering of the luxury fashion world.
The lipsticks will go live for sale on August 29, 2025. A digital pre-launch took place on Monday and will be followed by selling out on Louis Vuitton e-commerce sites and a few selected stores.
“And, honestly, what’s really not a good market at all for a $160 lipstick,” Pauline Brown, former chair of North America for LVMH, told Yahoo Finance on Wednesday. “So I think this was a strategic play to try to reinforce their market position and their market lead.”. . . :I think it’s way premature to suggest that this is going to be a success for LVMH,” he added.
Consolidating beauty credibility
To cement beauty authenticity, Louis Vuitton has asked Pat McGrath, an extremely famous make-up artist, to create their first permanent collection of color cosmetics, La Beaute. One of the most influential artists in fashion’s history, McGrath instantly vouches for the line. Across a spectrum of 55 lipsticks and 10 lip balms—each component priced at $160—and eight eyeshadow palettes at a price tag of $250, each using McGrath’s state-of-the-art pigment technology and fastidiously formulated materials, this partnership unites Louis Vuitton’s fashion heritage and McGrath’s beauty expertise to propose truly superior offerings in terms of blend.
LVMH CFO Cécile Cabanis stated on the company’s latest earnings call, “The strategy of Vuitton is focusing on always delivering the most sophisticated and qualitative product to retain the most important client and get some others from the upper segment.”
On the other part of the strategy, Cécile went on to explain, “It is to continue to recruit from the younger generation, and that is not around down trading or doing cheap products, but it’s around using the firepower and the DNA and the desirability of Vuitton and replicating it on more accessible categories.”
Value driven by craftsmanship and design
Like Louis Vuitton’s leather goods, beauty products are well designed and elegantly crafted. The lipstick case design echoes the iconic look of the house’s trunks and comes furnished with high-end metal cases to enable it to be transformed into a luxury object rather than a mere convenient accessory. This means maintaining the refillable concept—something irreplaceable and a luxury system. An artistic presentation of refillability supporting the purchase path heightens the value of the customer experience to the point where the product becomes an heirloom.
