The luxury market is going through one of its worst Financial crisis due to Strong sales adjustment behind him boom of sales that luxury brands experienced after the pandemic. Bernard Arnault has devised a master play to try redirect the bassist situation of LVMH and attract the interest of the wealthiest clients: a new luxury makeup range in which a scented lipstick will cost about 160 dollars. They hope to sell it as churros.
Landing in luxury cosmetics. Louis Vuitton gets fully into the world of high -end makeup with the launch of Beautéa range that includes 55 tones of lipstick, in addition to balms, eye shadow palettes and a series of skin accessories to wrap them with monogram design seal. It is no accident that Louis Vuitton has chosen that they are 55 tones: 55 in Roman numbers is LV.
Beyond the tonal ranges and glamor of the packagingFrom the first range of makeup of Louis Vuitton, the most attracts attention are its prices. A single lipstick will cost $ 160, $ 250 for a palette of eye shadows. The most faithful to the brand, in addition, can Complete your accessories With a mini trunk to save the lipsticks, stamped with the monogram design for 2,500 euros or a bag to carry the lipstick for $ 390.
A high price as a strategy. Not everyone can pay 160 dollars for a lipstick so LVMH’s strategy is hitting the table to, such and As I recognized Pauline Brown, president of LVMH for North America to Yahoo Finance, strengthening her leadership. “There is practically no market for a 160 -dollar lipstick. Therefore, I think this was a strategic play to try to strengthen its position and leadership in the luxury market.”
If we compare it with the products offered by its main rivals. A Dior lipstick, for example, costs about 47 dollars, Hermès lipsticks about $ 80, while one of Peau Beauté Clé It is sold for $ 113. This approach seeks to strengthen exclusivity for the Ultralujo buyer, not for the aspirational client. It is the same strategy that the brand has used in its leather and fashion products, which they have achieved endure the generalized downward trendin the face of the results that presented luxury brands, Like Burberrythat they had opened their catalog to more affordable products.
Debate about the unattainable strategy. The luxury products They are not based on a rational criterion, but on feelings and perceptions. So it is difficult to advance whether the new range of luxury products will be a success or not. According to The report “The State of Fashion: Beauty V.2 ” Prepared by The Business of Fashion and McKinsey, 63 % of consumers do not consider that premium brands have higher quality than the most affordable brands, and 24 % of those customers have opted for cheaper products in the last 12 months.
However, such and as they highlight in The Business of Fashionin the face of this practical vision, there is the purchase decision based on brand perception. Marigay McKee, co -founder of the Incubator of Violet Lab Beauty brands and former sales of Harrods and Saks Fifth Avenue assured that: “Vuitton has waited so long to offer cosmetics that customers are excited … the legacy is there. But the quality has to be present, not just the aesthetics.”
Louis Vuitton and Apple. Cécile Cabanis, Financial Director of LVMH, assuredIn one of his latest presentations that “Vuitton’s strategy focuses on always offering the most sophisticated and higher quality product to retain the most important customers and get some others in the upper segment. So the goal is to continue recruiting the youngest generationand that is not about selling at low prices or making cheap products, but also using the vuitton’s DNA, DNA and attractiveness and replicating it in more accessible categories. “
In that context, Louis Vuitton’s strategy with this new product line is very close to what historically He has offered Apple In technology: a product with high quality perception, at a high price that reinforces the concept of “products value” above its price.
Quality must be demonstrated. The presence of Pat McGrathone of the most influential makeup artists in the world at the head of the cosmetics of Louis Vuitton, guarantees that the collection is relevant for both the industry and for the most demanding consumers. Marigay McKee rememberthat the success of the new line is conditioned to its quality.
“Louis Vuitton faces the experience of the best makeup artists in the world. There are those who pay for the brand image, but it cannot only be exaggerated advertising. The product has to live up to expectations, or will only have good sales in the launch”, but will not be able to maintain those sales for a long time.
The cosmetics sector is very lucrative. While it is true that LVMH already has cosmetics specialized marks as Sephora, the global makeup market is so lucrative that it is tempting not to enter it with a high -end proposal.
According to data published by Fashionunitedthe cosmetics market reached 43.6 billion dollars in 2024 and could touch the 46,000 million at the end of 2025. The projections by 2034 are even better. That is why, in his search for new folders for the luxury sector, Louis Vuitton will not miss the opportunity to open a hole in This expanding market.
Maybe it starts like a 160 -dollar lip bar and then present more competitive ranges. It is the same as Apple with its most top iPhone, and then present The iPhone se or the Recent iPhone 16E.
Image | Louis Vuitton
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