This is an excerpt from MEGA October 2025 Beauty Feature
French fashion house Louis Vuitton has always exuded and been synonymous with luxury—and their recently unveiled beauty line, La Beauté is no exception. Perfectly aligned with the highest of standards Louis Vuitton is known for. The collection is one which holds both form and function as highly integral to the brand. These are more than just products—they are expressions of identity, artistry, and empowerment.
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There are few luxury languages as quietly persuasive as a well-made case. Louis Vuitton’s earliest trunks taught the world that travelling could be elegant, precise and beautiful—and now, with La Beauté, the Maison has folded that same philosophy into a makeup line conceived like a keepsake. The result reads less like a seasonal launch and more like the opening of a new atelier: lipsticks, balms and eyeshadows that speak of travel, craft and a couture mindset.
At the centre of this new universe is Dame Pat McGrath, DBE, a figure whose runway alchemy and editorial transformations helped shape contemporary beauty. Appointed Cosmetics Creative for La Beauté, McGrath is not a hired face; she is a steward of a vision. “Makeup is culture. It’s power. It’s presence. And it’s personal,” she says. “Luxury in makeup is about performance, craftsmanship, and sensoriality. It’s about textures that feel exquisite, colors that captivate, and formulas that perform flawlessly.” Her language—equal parts manifesto and love letter—sets the tone: these are products built to be experienced, not merely purchased.
La Beauté reads like a Louis Vuitton vignette: references to travel and trunk-making are literal and conceptual. The collection’s design language, realized in collaboration with industrial designer Konstantin Grcic, translates trunk fittings into tactile details. Take for instance, a golden ring inspired by brass hardware, metal-heavy constructions of aluminum and brass, and closures that sound and feel like heirlooms. “The way it feels in your hand, the sound of the closure, the temperature of the materials— these are all part of the emotional connection,” Grcic explains. And because the Maison has woven sustainability into its métier, these objects are refillable by design: beauty conceived not as disposability, but as a lifelong companion.
If La Beauté feels like an archive reimagined, that’s deliberate. Louis Vuitton’s early 20th-century vanity cases, crafted to cradle perfumes and powders on long voyages, are the collection’s distant cousins. McGrath mined those histories and translated them into a modern ritual: makeup as storytelling, makeup as identity. “Working backstage for over 20 years at Louis Vuitton fashion shows, I am thrilled to now play such a key role in the launch of La Beauté Louis Vuitton,” she says. “The beauty universe is about so much more than just products, and what we are creating here will unlock a new level in luxury beauty.”
The offering itself is both exacting and generous: 55 shades of lipstick—a conscious nod to Roman numerals and the initials LV, chosen by McGrath to be simultaneously flattering and visionary. The range splits into two finishes (27 creamy satin hues and 28 velvety mattes), and is anchored by storyteller shades such as 203 Rose Odyssée, 854 Rouge Louis and the emblematic 896 Monogram Rouge, a burnished, historically inflected red that fuses the brown Monogram canvas with classic lipstick glamour. Formulation is performance-led: the lipsticks are built on an 85% skincare base and use upcycled floral waxes with shea and hyaluronic acid for hydration and longwear.
Read more about Louis Vuitton ‘s most-anticipated beauty line, La Beauté MEGA’s October 2025 issue, now available on Readly, Magzter, Press Reader and Zinio.
Images Courtesy of LOUIS VUITTON. Written by AGOO AZCUNA-BENGZON
