Pat McGrath sets a new standard for luxury in beauty with La Beauté Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton’s beauty line, La Beauté Louis Vuitton, is finally here, following its announcement in March this year. The collection comprises 55 shades of LV Rouge lipsticks (55 being LV in Roman numerals), ten shades of LV Baume lip balm, eight shades of LV Ombres eyeshadows, as well as application brushes and leather accessories, and was developed under the auspices of legendary make-up artist Pat McGrath.

McGrath was a natural choice for creative director as a long-standing collaborator with Louis Vuitton fashion who shares the brand’s exacting attention to detail and dedication to quality. ‘With product development, I have always been obsessed with the smallest of details,’ says McGrath. ‘The perfection needed in product texture, the precise application methods, just the right amount of pigment pay-off, and how products should make you feel. I always like to push boundaries with make-up – and this métier is no different.’

If anyone knows about pushing cosmetics into new territory, it’s ‘Mother’ – a nickname given to McGrath thanks to her mentorship of younger artists and her foundational role in shaping contemporary beauty. From her iconic Vogue Italia covers with Steven Meisel in the 1990s to her recent glass skin for a Martin Margiela show, as well as her commercial work creating cosmetic lines for Giorgio Armani, Dolce & Gabbana and Gucci, her overseeing of Covergirl and Max Factor in the early 2000s, and the launch of her own beloved make-up brand, Pat McGrath Labs, in 2015, no one in beauty has a more impressive resume than McGrath. Yet, for all this experience, La Beauté Louis Vuitton has given McGrath the chance to do something new – to parlay the expertise she has honed over decades in the industry into a line of unparalleled luxury.

One of McGrath’s greatest skills is her ability to develop high-impact colours that flatter a wide variety of skin tones. Nowhere is this more evident than in the hero products of the La Beauté Louis Vuitton collection, the LV Rouge lipsticks. With 27 satin shades and 28 matte, the lipsticks range from ‘406 Fearless Night’, a rich plum colour, to ‘103 Vanity Beige’, a subtle mauve. In between is the house’s signature shade, ‘896 Monogram Rouge’. Developed by McGrath to reflect the heritage of the house, this unique take on a classic red fuses the brown shade of Louis Vuitton’s iconic canvas fabric with traditional scarlet to create a rich, burnished colour.

A sheer interpretation of the shade is also available as an LV Baume, alongside eight other lightweight, buildable tints and one transparent balm. Formulated with shea butter, hyaluronic acid, five-flavor berry extract, and upcycled mimosa wax from Grasse, the balms are designed to have a skincare effect on lips, improving their smoothness and hydration with every wear.

Rounding out the collection are the LV Ombres eyeshadow palettes, each of which contains three easy-to-wear base shades and one bold colour to make them pop. There is, of course, a ‘Monogram Rouge’ palette, with deep browns and the signature red, as well as a ‘Beige Memento’ palette that draws inspiration from the patina of Louis Vuitton’s leather with gleaming ivory and shimmery bronze; and more outré options like the blue colours of ‘950 Sky’s The Limit’ or purple shades of ‘450 Cosmic Dreams’.

McGrath and Vuitton have, unsurprisingly, taken an exacting approach to the composition of the eyeshadows. Each shade is formulated with plant-derived squalane to help colour blend into the skin without compromising its long-lasting hold, while the glitter in each of the pearly and metallic shades is wrapped in a transparent gel to reflect light for maximised shine.

It’s these details that, according to McGrath, make La Beauté set a new standard in luxury beauty. ‘Luxury in make-up is about performance, craftsmanship, and sensoriality. It’s about textures that feel exquisite, colours that captivate, and formulas that perform flawlessly. True luxury is when every detail is considered – from the way the pigment melts into the skin to the way a lipstick feels in your hand. It’s the fusion of artistry and technology, of heritage and innovation.’

When it comes to La Beauté, every detail certainly has been considered, even the way it smells, with a scent designed by the brand’s in-house perfumer Jacques Cavallier Belletrud. Instead of traditional perfumes, which are built on an alcohol base, Belletrud had to work with a wax and oil foundation for the lipstick, a much more difficult task. ‘Creating fragrance for lipstick is a completely different challenge than for skin,’ says Belletrud. ‘The scent sits much closer to the wearer’s nose, so it must be delicate yet expressive, something that seduces first the wearer herself before anyone else.’ In order to create a fragrance that would last, Belletrud had to find and formulate materials that would strike the right balance between delicate and distinctive. It took a total of four years to find a formulation he was happy with, which blends flowers native to Grasse – mimosa, jasmine, and rose – into subtle, lasting scent.

Rounding out the powerhouse team behind the line is German industrial designer Konstantin Grcic, who brought his sophisticated reimagining of simple forms to the design of La Beauté Louis Vuitton’s packaging. Grcic’s designs for La Beauté are weighty cases that close with a satisfying click and feature elegant details like a lock system for the lipstick and eyeshadow refills in the shape of LV’s signature flower, or a window at the top of the lipstick case that allows you to view the shade inside. ‘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,’ says Grcic about the design.

Each La Beauté Louis Vuitton piece is designed to be a lifelong keepsake, and that ethos is reflected in its prices (lipsticks are priced at £120 and the eyeshadow palettes at £190). For those who would like to make the experience of owning one of the items extra special, the brand has designed a line of small leather goods to accompany the collection, including Monogram canvas cases to hold lipsticks and blotting papers.

Ultimately, it is a collection that sets a new standard for luxury in beauty. ‘I’ve always said make-up is more than product: it’s performance, obsession and emotion,’ says McGrath. ‘This new chapter is about pushing craftsmanship into a new realm.’

Shop the collection at louisvuitton.com